Effect of Fast Reactor Fluence on Postirradiation Rupture of Type 316 Stainless Steel

Specimens of annealed Type 316 stainless steel were irradiated in Experimental Breeder Reactor II at temperatures ranging from 900 to 1450°F and to fluences from 0.2 to 7 × 10²² n/cm² (E_n > 0.1 MeV). Uniaxial and biaxial creep tests were performed at 1000, 1100, 1200, and 1400°F with rupture times from <1 to >1000 h. The test data show that rupture life changes due to irradiation can be substantial. The stress, fluence, and temperature dependence of rupture life are reduced to a mathematical form, , where A and B are temperature-dependent terms and the term t_i/t_n is temperature and fluence dependent.