Profile

Dr. Joe Wall is a Principal Technical Leader in the Nuclear Nondestructive Evaluation group at EPRI in Charlotte, NC USA. His expertise is on NDE for characterization of microstructure and mechanical properties in materials used in nuclear applications. Dr. Wall is also on the faculty at Georgia Institute of Technology.

Abstract

Microstructural and Mechanical Property Characterization of Primary Loop Materials using NDE

For several years EPRI has been conducting research on nondestructive evaluation for materials characterization of materials used in power generation (nuclear, fossil, renewables). Due to environmental conditions, many of the materials and components in service can degrade unpredictably, resulting unplanned repair or replacement activities resulting from system failure. For this reason, it is of interest to use nondestructive evaluation techniques to assess the suitability of materials for continued service and/or to more accurately estimate their reamining useful life. This presentation will be an overview of recent and ongoing EPRI work on characterization of austenitic stainless steels used in light water reactor internals and primary loop piping applications using nondestructive and destructive testing. There are three focus areas: 1) thermal embrittlement of cast austenitic stainless steels used in primary loop piping, 2) irradiation induced void swelling of austenitic stainless steels used in reacotor internals and 3) irradiation induced embrittlement of austenitic stainless steels used in reactor internals. Preliminary results will be discussed as will be plans for future research.