SYMPOSIA PAPER Published: 01 January 1992
STP17898S

Radiation-Induced Segregation in 20Cr/25Ni/Nb Stainless Steel

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Intergranular corrosion of irradiated austenitic steels has been attributed to compositional changes produced by radiation-induced segregation at grain boundaries, and the effect has been investigated for the 20Cr/25Ni/Nb stainless steel employed as fuel cladding in advanced gas-cooled reactors. Analytical electron microscopy has been used to determine compositional profiles at grain boundaries in irradiated samples.

The observations are explained in terms of a model based on the inverse Kirkendall effect. At higher doses, interpretation is complicated by grain boundary migration, and compositional changes are found to persist after a boundary has moved away. The compositional profiles are compared with corrosion data for the same irradiated material. Results of Strauss corrosion tests are found to correlate with widths of chromium-depleted zones.

Silicon segregation towards boundaries is a feature of the observations at the lower irradiation temperatures.

Author Information

Norris, DIR
Nuclear Electric plc, Berkeley Nuclear Laboratories, Berkeley, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom
Baker, C
Nuclear Electric plc, Berkeley Nuclear Laboratories, Berkeley, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom
Taylor, C
AEA Technology, Northern Research Laboratories, Windscale, Cumbria, United Kingdom
Titchmarsh, JM
AEA Technology, Harwell Laboratory, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
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Details
Developed by Committee: E10
Pages: 603–620
DOI: 10.1520/STP17898S
ISBN-EB: 978-0-8031-5187-1
ISBN-13: 978-0-8031-1477-7