Estimation of Fracture Toughness Transition Curves of RPV Steels from Ball Indentation and Tensile Test Data
Byun, T.S., Kim, S.H., Lee, B.S., Kim, I.S., and Hong, J.H., "Estimation of Fracture Toughness Transition Curves of RPV Steels from Ball Indentation and Tensile Test Data," Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 277, 2000, pp. 263–273.
This KAERI study applies their theoretical model to six actual reactor pressure vessel steels — including IAEA round-robin reference materials JRQ and JFL — and five Korean SA508 Class 3 heats. Tests span transition temperatures from -160°C to +25°C.
The study demonstrates that ABI-derived fracture toughness transition curves match conventional fracture mechanics test data with engineering accuracy. The use of IAEA reference materials is particularly significant because these materials have been extensively characterized by multiple laboratories worldwide, providing a well-established benchmark against which ABI® results can be compared.
The breadth of materials tested — six RPV steels of varying composition and heat treatment — and the temperature range covered make this one of the most comprehensive independent validations of ABI®'s fracture toughness capability. The results provided confidence that ABI® fracture toughness estimation is not material-specific but works across the range of RPV steels in service worldwide.