Argonne National Laboratory Postdoctoral Fellowship Programs Alumni

Yiren Chen
Nuclear Engineering Division
Appointment from January 2005 to December 2007
Supervisor: Ken Natesan

ANL Research Highlights

As a postdoc in the Nuclear Engineering Division, I worked in the area of environmentally assisted cracking (EAC) of structural materials for light water reactors (LWRs). My research focus was on Irradiated Assisted Stress Corrosion Cracking (IASCC) of austenitic stainless steels and nickel alloys for reactor internals. The objective of my study was to improve our understanding on IASCC mechanism and provide technical support to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for various regulation issues. With a long-standing and well-established EAC program at Argonne , I was able to start my research project quickly using the existing facilities and had access to valuable irradiated specimens which took years of planning and efforts. With the excellent support from our technical team, we were able to determine the neutron fluence level and significant metallurgical parameters for IASCC susceptibility in the BWR environment.

The postdoc program in the Nuclear Engineering Division provided me the opportunity to use my educational background on materials engineering and my research experience in structural materials for nuclear applications. I have also been able to develop my new skills and expand my research area by interacting with researchers having a wide range of background. Collaboration with scientists from other national laboratories, universities, industries and other international institutions is encouraged and is a part of my fruitful postdoc experience. Currently, I am a staff member in the Corrosion and Mechanics of Materials section and I work closely with the USNRC to address reactor internal ageing issues to meet the challenge imposed by the increasing demand on nuclear energy.

New Endeavors

Assistant Metallurgical Engineer
Corrosion & Mechanics of Materials Section
Nuclear Engineering Division
Argonne National Laboratory
9700 S. Cass Avenue
Argonne, IL 60439
Fax: 630-252-3604
Email: yiren_chen@anl.gov
NE Page: http://students.ne.anl.gov/postdocs/chen.php

Currently, I lead an experimental effort to study the IASCC mechanism for austenitic stainless steels in PWR environment. Slow Strain Rate Tensile tests and Crack Growth Rate tests are our main methods to evaluate the IASCC susceptibility for selected materials. Transmission Electron Microscopy is also used to obtain information on void swelling and irradiation defect structure relevant to PWR dose and temperature.