Mechanical properties of martensitic steels after exposure to flowing liquid metals A. Aiello a , M. Agostini a , G. Benamati a , B. Long b, * , G. Scaddozzo a,c, * a ENEA C.R. Brasimone, 40032 Camugnano (BO), Italy b China Institute of Atomic Energy, 102413 Beijing, China c Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy Abstract This paper describes the tensile test results of martensitic steels EUROFER 97 and T91 after exposure to flowing Pb– 17Li and Pb–55.5Bi alloy, respectively. The corrosion tests were performed in LIFUS II loop (Pb–17Li) and LECOR loop (Pb–55.5Bi) located in the ENEA Brasimone Center. Tensile test were carried in SYNTECH test machine under Ar atmosphere with an extension rate of 2 mm/min, and test temperature for EUROFER and T91 steels were at 480 and 400 °C respectively. The exposure of EUROFER steel to the liquid Pb–17Li did not affect its mechanical properties, while the ductility of T91 steel was deteriorated after exposed to flowing liquid Pb–55.5Bi. Ó 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction EUROFER 97 steel is a reduced activation ferritic– martensitic (RAFM) steel which is the candidates for structural materials in the water-cooled lead lithium (WCLL) concept of fusion reactors [1]. Martensitic steel T91 will be chosen as the container material of a spallation target for accelerator driven systems (ADS), which is proposed for the transmutation of nu- clear waste [2]. The compatibility of structural materi- als with liquid metal must be considered in these two systems. Two dynamic loops were constructed in ENEA Brasimone Centre to perform this kind of stud- ies – the LIFUS II with Pb-17Li and the LECOR with Pb–55.5Bi. The aims of the experimental studies described in the following text are to investigate the mechanical proper- ties of EUROFER 97 steel and T91 steel after corrosion in flowing Pb–17Li and Pb–55.5Bi, respectively. 2. Experiment 2.1. Materials and specimens The chemical compositions of T91 and EUROFER 97 steels are shown in Table 1. The heat treatment of T91 is: normalized at 1040 °C for 60 min, and then tem- pered at 760 °C for 60 min. The EUROFER 97 was heat treated by normalizing at 980 °C for 30 min and temper- ing at 760 °C for 90 min. Cylindrical tensile specimens with a 3 mm diameter and a gauge length of 15 mm were machined for both 0022-3115/$ - see front matter Ó 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2004.07.023 * Corresponding authors. Tel.: +39 0534 801 273; fax: +39 0534 801 225 (B. Long), tel.: +39 0534 801 462; fax: +39 0534 801 225 (G. Scaddozzo). E-mail addresses: long.bin@brasimone.enea.it (B. Long), giuseppe.scaddozzo@brasimone.enea.it (G. Scaddozzo). Journal of Nuclear Materials 335 (2004) 217–221 www.elsevier.com/locate/jnucmat