Effect of low temperature irradiation on the mechanical properties of ternary V–Cr–Ti alloys as determined by tensile tests and shear punch tests

Tensile tests and shear punch tests were performed on a variety of vanadium alloys that were irradiated in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at temperatures between 200°C and 300°C to doses between 3 and 5 dpa. Tests were performed at room temperature and the irradiation temperature. The results of both the tensile tests and the shear punch tests show that following low temperature irradiation, the yield strength (YS) increased by a factor of 3–4 while the ultimate strength increased by a factor of approximately 3. Uniform elongation (UE) and tensile reduction in area show that the ductility diminishes following irradiation. The correlation between uniaxial ultimate strength and effective shear maximum strength was in excellent agreement with previous studies on other materials. Using the room temperature test data, the correlation between uniaxial YS and effective shear YS was in excellent agreement with previous studies on other materials.