Irradiation Hardening of Austenitic Stainless Steels: From Field Experience to Modeling

Materials for the core internals of Pressurized Water Reactors (austenitic stainless steels) are submitted to neutron irradiation. To understand the ageing mechanisms associated to irradiation and propose life predictions of the component, a multi step iterative approach consisting in particular in modeling the evolution of the hardening has been undertaken. Combination of characterization and modeling of simplified situations and field expertise is proposed.Copyright © 2004 by ASME