Stress corrosion cracking of alloy 600 in PWR primary water : influence of chromium, hydrogen and oxygen diffusion

International audienceAlloy 600, a nickel base alloy containing 15 % chromium, is used in primary circuit of Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR). This alloy is well known to be susceptible to Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC) in PWR primary water. Despite the fact that many laboratory studies have been performed and that many models are proposed in the literature, the mechanisms involved are still not well known. In the proposed model, the transport of species (oxygen, hydrogen and chromium) is considered as playing a key role. Therefore, experiments and calculations are performed in order to study the transport of chromium, hydrogen and oxygen in Alloy 600 and in model alloys. The results lead to the conclusion that the transport of oxygen and hydrogen cannot be considered as the rate-controlling steps. The dissymmetric aspect of the crack tip and of the chromium depletion ahead of the crack lead to the conclusion that chromium diffusion could play a significant role in the mechanism

Effect of alloy grain size on the high-temperature oxidation behavior of the austenitic steel TP 347

Generally, oxide scales formed on high Cr steels are multi-layered and the kinetics are strongly influenced by the alloy grain boundaries. In the present study, the oxidation behaviour of an austenite steel TP347 with different grain sizes was studied to identify the role of grain-boundaries in the oxidation process. Heat treatment in an inert gas atmosphere at 1050 °C was applied to modify the grain size of the steel TP347. The mass gain during subsequent oxidation was measured using a microbalance with a resolution of 10-5 g. The scale morphology was examined using SEM in combination with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Oxidation of TP347 with a grain size of 4 µm at 750 °C in air follows a parabolic rate law. For a larger grain size (65 µm), complex kinetics is observed with a fast initial oxidation followed by several different parabolic oxidation stages. SEM examinations indicated that the scale formed on specimens with smaller grain size was predominantly Cr2O3, with some FeCr2O4 at localized sites. For specimens with larger grain size the main oxide is iron oxide. It can be concluded that protective Cr2O3 formation is promoted by a high density of fast grain-boundary diffusion paths which is the case for fine-grained materials