Elevated-Temperature Mechanical Properties of an Advanced-Type 316 Stainless Steel1

Abstract

Type 316FR stainless steel is a candidate material for the Japanese demonstration fast breeder reactor plant to be built in Japan early in the next century. Like type 316L(N), it is a low-carbon grade of stainless steel with a more closely specified nitrogen content and chemistry optimized to enhance elevated-temperature performance. Early in 1994, under sponsorship of The Japan Atomic Power Company, work was initiated at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) aimed at obtaining an elevated-temperature mechanical-properties database on a single heat of this material. The product form was 50-mm plate manufactured by the Nippon Steel Corporation. Data include results from long-term creep-rupture tests conducted at temperatures of 500 to 600°C with test times up to nearly 40.000 h, continuous-cycle strain-controlled fatigue test results over the same temperature range, limited creep-fatigue data at 550 and 600°C, and tensile test properties from room temperature to 650°C. The ORNL data were compared with data obtained from several different heats and product forms of this material obtained at Japanese laboratories. The data were also compared with results from predictive equations developed for this material and with data available for types 316 and 316L(N) stainless steel.