Reactor pressure vessels of PWR/BWR/WWER type reactors are covered by austenitic cladding made by welding on their inner wall. Austenitic materials usually have no transition temperature behavior as they have fcc crystallographic structure. But, austenitic cladding made by welding contain usually up to 8 % of delta-ferrite that results in some transition behavior of fracture properties. This transition can be observed in temperature region below room temperature.
Surprisingly, this transition behavior in static fracture toughness of both cladding layers can be well described by “Master curve” approach.
Results from testing austenitic cladding for WWER type reactors will be shown and discussed, ether in unirradiated as well as irradiated conditions — only small changes in fracture toughness properties in this transition region are observed as a result of irradiation.
