Table of Contents Table of Contents
Previous Page  7 / 62 Next Page
Information
Show Menu
Previous Page 7 / 62 Next Page
Page Background

Study explores aging

of pressure vessels in

nuclear power stations

German scientists participated in the

LONGLIFE project funded by the Euro-

pean Union and coordinated by the

Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf

(HZDR) to investigate how pressure ves-

sels of nuclear power stations age. The

embrittlement during long-term opera-

tion was investigated using many mate-

rial samples in different irradiation

conditions. The mechanical properties of

the irradiated materials can only be tested

in hot cell testing facilities like those at

the HZDR. Researchers are particularly

interested in the influence that the inten-

sity of the radiation (neutron flux) has on

the materials over a certain time interval.

Materials that have been irradiated at a

low neutron flux over many years exhibit

different changes at the atomic level than

materials exposed to a higher neutron

flux over a shorter period of time. This ef-

fect and others that are significant during

long-term irradiation are now being

taken into account during monitoring of

the materials’ aging.

www.hzdr.de

.

Hot cell testing facility at the Helmholtz-

Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf allows

analysis of irradiated material samples.

ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES •

MARCH 2014

7

ArcelorMittal,

Chicago, plans to reopen their

long product finishing facility in Harriman,

Tenn. With a goal of fully operating by April,

the company will hire 61 new employees over

the next two years. The facility, which closed

in 2011 due to poor market conditions, re-

ceives billets from ArcelorMittal LaPlace, La.,

reheats them, and rolls them into light struc-

tural shapes and merchant bars for the con-

struction market. The reopening will enhance

the company’s long product portfolio by pro-

ducing 1-3-in. angles and 1-4-in. flats.

http://corporate.arcelormittal.com

.

QuesTek Innovations LLC,

Evanston, Ill., announced that its ultrahigh-strength,

high-toughness Ferrium M54TM steel was approved for inclusion in the aerospace

industry’s

Metallic Materials Properties Development & Standardization (MMPDS)

Handbook.

The company accelerated M54 steel from a clean sheet design to a

precise chemical composition in less than one year, and produced the first 10-

ton ingot the next year. SAE International issued an Aerospace Material Specifica-

tion (AMS 6516) two years later. With the MMPDS approval, M54 steel reached full

flight qualification from clean sheet design in less than six years.

www.questek.com/ferrium-m54.html.