Abstract The mechanical and fracture properties of aged materials degrade due to metallurgical and micro- structural changes during service life. Miniaturized specimen testing methodology has been evolved over the years to quantify such degradation mechanisms. Oxygen Free Electronic (OFE) Copper has wide applications in nuclear industry, particularly in fusion reactors and accelerators. Such material when subjected to nuclear irradiation during service life experiences degradation of ductility and fracture toughness. In the present study, linear accelerator is used to irradiate OFE Copper specimens up to varying dose of irradiation. Specimens are subjected to electron irradiation dose which varies from 11 MGy to 91.5 MGy. The specimens are then tested, and the load-displacement curves thus generated are used to quantify changes in mechanical and fracture properties, viz. yield stress, ultimate stress, specimen energy at fracture, bi-axial fracture strain and fracture initiation toughness of irradiated specimens. It is observed that there is a loss of ductility of OFE copper beyond 62.5 MGy irradiation dose as indicated by decrease in biaxial fracture strain, specimen energy and fracture initiation toughness. Such changes should be taken into consideration for calculating service life during the design of components made up of OFE Copper subjected to irradiation.

中文翻译：

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电子辐照降解OFE铜的力学性能

摘要 老化材料的机械性能和断裂性能由于使用寿命期间的冶金和微观结构变化而降低。多年来，微型样品测试方法已经发展到量化这种降解机制。无氧电子 (OFE) 铜在核工业中有着广泛的应用，特别是在聚变反应堆和加速器中。这种材料在使用寿命期间受到核辐射时，其延展性和断裂韧性会下降。在本研究中，使用直线加速器对 OFE 铜样品进行辐照，直至达到不同的辐照剂量。样品经受从 11 MGy 到 91.5 MGy 的电子辐射剂量。然后对样品进行测试，并且由此生成的载荷-位移曲线用于量化机械和断裂特性的变化，即。屈服应力、极限应力、试样断裂能量、双轴断裂应变和辐照试样的断裂起始韧性。据观察，超过 62.5 MGy 辐照剂量后，OFE 铜的延展性会下降，这表现为双轴断裂应变、试样能量和断裂起始韧性的降低。在设计由受辐照的 OFE 铜制成的部件时，应考虑此类变化以计算使用寿命。据观察，超过 62.5 MGy 辐照剂量后，OFE 铜的延展性会下降，这表现为双轴断裂应变、试样能量和断裂起始韧性的降低。在设计由受辐照的 OFE 铜制成的部件时，应考虑此类变化以计算使用寿命。据观察，超过 62.5 MGy 辐照剂量后，OFE 铜的延展性会下降，这表现为双轴断裂应变、试样能量和断裂起始韧性的降低。在设计由受辐照的 OFE 铜制成的部件时，应考虑此类变化以计算使用寿命。