Evaluation of grain boundary embrittlement of phosphorus added F82H steel by SSTT

Abstract Non-hardening embrittlement (NHE) can be happened by a large amount of He on grain boundaries over 500–700 appm of bulk He without hardening at fusion reactor condition. Especially, at high irradiation temperatures (>≈420 °C), NHE accompanied by intergranular fracture affects the severe accident and the safety of fusion blanket system. Small specimen tests to evaluate fracture toughness and Charpy impact properties were carried out for F82H steels with different levels of phosphorous addition in order to simulate the effects of NHE on the shift of transition curve. It was found that the ductile to brittle transition temperature (DBTT) and reference temperature (T0) after phosphorous addition is shifted to higher temperatures and accompanied by intergranular fracture at transition temperatures region. The master curve approach for evaluation of fracture toughness change by the degradation of grain boundary strength was carried out by referring to the ASTM E1921.