INVESTIGATION OF THERMALLY AGED SAMPLES BY MAGNETIC ADAPTIVE TESTING

Gábor Vértesy – Ivan Tomáš – Satoru Kobayashi – Yasuhiro Kamada

   Two series of thermally aged Fe-1 wt % Cu alloys were investigated by the method of Magnetic Adaptive Testing, typical by its low required magnetization of the samples. The samples were prepared for modelling neutron irradiation and thermal ageing in nuclear reactor pressure vessels. Sensitive correlation was found between magnetic descriptors and ageing time. Based on these results, Magnetic Adaptive Testing is suggested as a highly promising non-destructive tool for monitoring the influence of irradiation of surveillance samples in pressure vessels of nuclear reactors. Results of the non-destructive magnetic tests were also compared with the destructive mechanical measurements of Vickers hardness.

Keywords: nondestructive testing, magnetic adaptive testing, irradiation embrittlement, thermal ageing, minor hysteresis loops

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