PROPERTIES OF HIPED STAINLESS-STEEL POWDER

In the current design of ITER primary wall, 316LN stainless steel is t he reference structural material. Austenitic stainless steel is used f or water-cooling channels and structures. As material data on hot isos tatic pressed (HIP) 316LN were not available in open literature and fr om powder producers, the main properties of unirradiated samples have been measured in CEA/CEREM, Fully dense material without any porosity is obtained when appropriate HIP parameters are applied, Microstructur al examination and mechanical properties are confirmed that the HIPed 316LN material is equivalent to a very good fine-grain, isotropic and uniformly forged 316LN. Moreover, ultrasonic inspection showed that th is fine and uniform microstructure produced a remarkably low noise, wh ich allow the use of transverse waves even at very high frequencies (4 MHz), Defects undetectable in forged material will be easily detected in HIPed material.