Session: HT-02-01 Impulsively Loaded Vessels

Paper Number: 123517

123517 - Alloy Effects in Steels for Explosive Containment Vessels 

Explosive (ECVs), such as those utilized to contain the detonation products of explosives during bomb/munition disposal or containment of experiments on explosive devices, are required to be fabricated from high-integrity materials to ensure the safety of people and/or property in the vicinity of the vessel. Candidate materials for ECV construction are desired to exhibit high strength and high toughness to prevent ductile exhaustion and/or brittle failure induced by impulsive loading; a non-trivial requirement given that, generally, materials exhibit poorer toughness with increasing strength. In addition to mechanical performance in the end-use application, considerations for vessel manufacture need also to be considered when selecting materials for ECVs, such as weldability and component thickness.

Los Alamos National Laboratory has had success using both A723 and HSLA‑100 steel alloys for ECV applications. The present article provides a background on these two alloys and compares them from the perspectives mentioned above. A723 is better suited for thick-section and non-welded applications, whereas HSLA-100 is better suited for thinner vessel components and supports welding without post-weld heat treatment. Discussion is included regarding the how effects from the alloy compositions of these two steels enables them to perform in complementary applications. This discussion is extended to current alloy development for ECVs which seeks to improve performance and manufacturability.

Presenting Author: Joshua Mueller Michigan Technological University

Presenting Author Biography: Josh Mueller is an assistant professor in the Materials Science and Engineering Department at Michigan Technological University, and a Los Alamos National Laboratory affiliate with the Dynamic-Structure Design Engineering, and Vessel Operations Group. He holds a PhD from Colorado School of Mines in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, and a BS in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research interests include phase transformations and microstructural evolution associated with multi-phase microstructures, as well as microstructure-mechanical property relationships of metals and alloys. He is particularly interested in microstructure design to enhance the combined yield strength and toughness of engineering materials and incorporating thermodynamic and phase field simulations for an integrated computational materials engineering (ICME) approach to alloy and heat treatment development.

Authors:

Joshua Mueller Michigan Technological University
Joshem Gibson Los Alamos National Laboratory
Melissa Thrun Los Alamos National Laboratory