Study on the irradiation effect of mechanical properties of RPV steels using crystal plasticity model

Abstract

In this paper a body-centered cubic(BCC) crystal plasticity model based on microscopic dislocation mechanism is introduced and numerically implemented. The model is coupled with irradiation effect via tracking dislocation loop evolution on each slip system. On the basis of the model, uniaxial tensile tests of unirradiated and irradiated RPV steel(take Chinese A508-3 as an example) at different temperatures are simulated, and the simulation results agree well with the experimental results. Furthermore, crystal plasticity damage is introduced into the model. Then the damage behavior before and after irradiation is studied using the model. The results indicate that the model is an effective tool to study the effect of irradiation and temperature on the mechanical properties and damage behavior. Keywords: Crystal plasticity, Dislocation evolution, Irradiation effect, Damage, RPV steel