Determination of the Elastic-Plastic Properties of 15Kh2MFA Steel with Austenitic Cladding

Abstract

The spherical indentation response of pressure vessel reactor steel with austenitic cladding is investigated both experimentally and numerically. The instrumented indentation test was performed for both materials at a sufficient distance from the bi-material interface, thus the results can be compared with the bulk data obtained from the standard tensile and compression tests. The stress – plastic strain curve for austenitic cladding estimated by a simplified inverse analysis of the indentation load – penetration curve is shifted to a harder response compared with that determined from the tensile test. One of the possible reasons, anisotropy of the cladding metal, was experimentally observed during the compression tests performed in the longitudinal orientation of the tensile test specimens and in the transverse orientation identical with the direction of the material indentation.