3.1 Practice E185 defines the minimum requirements for light-water reactor surveillance program Charpy V-notch specimens and Practice E2215 describes the evaluation of test specimens from surveillance capsules. It may be desirable to extend the original surveillance program beyond available specimens for plant aging management issues, such as plant license renewal, to better define existing data, or to determine fracture toughness of a material when no standard fracture toughness test specimens are available. The ability to reconstitute the broken halves of existing specimens can provide such data.

3.2 Charpy-sized specimens are typically machined from virgin material, that is, material not previously mechanically tested. There are occasions that exist when either (1) no full size specimen blanks are available or (2) the material available with the desired history (such as having been subjected to irradiation) is not sufficient for the machining of full-size specimens, or both.

3.3 An solution to this problem, which is addressed in this guide, is to fabricate new specimens using the broken halves of previously irradiated and tested specimens or other material irradiated for this purpose. In this guide, the central segment of each new specimen utilizes a broken half of a previously tested specimen and end tabs that are welded to the central segment, or the central section may simply be a piece of virgin material shorter than a Charpy-sized specimen. While specifically addressing reconstitution of irradiated pressure vessel steels, this guide can also provide guidance for reconstitution of Charpy-sized specimens for other situations involving material availability.