Plastic flow properties and fracture toughness characterization of unirradiated and irradiated tempered martensitic steels

We investigate the plastic flow properties at low and high temperature of the tempered martensitic steel Eurofer97. We show that below room temperature, where the Peierls friction on the screw dislocation is active, it is necessary to modify the usual Taylor's equation between the flow stress and the square root of the dislocation density and to include explicitly the Peierls friction stress in the equation. Then, we compare the fracture properties of the Eurofer97 with those of the F82H steel. A clear difference of the fracture toughness- temperature behavior was found in the low transition region. The results indicate a sharper transition for Eurofer97 than for the F82H. Finally, the shift of the median toughness- temperature curve of the F82H steel was determined after two neutron irradiations performed in the High Flux Reactor in Petten. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V, All rights reserved.