Impact testing of stainless steel material at room and elevated temperatures

Stainless steels are used for the construction of numerous spent nuclear fuel or radioactive material containers that may be subjected to high strains and moderate strain rates during accidental drop events. Mechanical characteristics of these base materials and their welds under dynamic loads in the strain rate range of concern are not well documented. However, three previous papers [1, 2, 3] reported on impact testing and analysis results performed at the Idaho National Laboratory using 304/304L and 316/316L stainless steel base material specimens that began the investigation of these characteristics. The goal of the work presented herein is to add the results of additional tensile impact testing for dual-marked 304/304L and 316/316L stainless steel material specimens (hereafter referred to as 304L and 316L, respectively). Utilizing a drop-weight impact test machine and 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch thick dog-bone shaped test specimens, additional impact tests achieved target strain rates of 5, 10, and 22 per second at room temperature, 300, and 600 degrees Fahrenheit. Elevated true stress-strain curves for these materials at each designated strain rate and temperature are presented herein.