SEDL / STP / STP1175-EB / STP23976S

Stress Corrosion Cracking Susceptibility of Irradiated Type 304 Stainless Steels

Chung, HM
Research Scientist, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL

Ruther, WE
Research Scientist, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL

Sanecki, JE
Research Scientist, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL

Hins, AG
Research Scientist, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL

Kassner, TF
Manager, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL

Pages: 19    Published: Jan 1994

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Abstract

Slow-strain-rate tensile tests and microstructural analysis by Auger electron spectroscopy were conducted on specimens of high- and commercial-purity (HP and CP) heats of Type 304 stainless steel obtained from neutron absorber tubes and a control blade sheath after irradiation up to 2.5×10²¹ n∙cm^-2 (E>1 MeV) in boiling water reactors (BWRs). The susceptibility of the HP absorber tubes to intergranular stress corrosion cracking (IGSCC) was higher than that of the CP absorber tubes or the CP control blade sheath. IGSCC susceptibilities of the BWR components could not be correlated with segregation of impurities on grain boundaries. However, for comparable fluence levels, the susceptibilities could be correlated to concentrations of Cr on grain-boundaries.