The work in this article is part of a project to develop a quantitative description of stress corrosion cracking (SCC) on the secondary side of pressurized water reactor (PWR) steam generator tubing based on existing information from operating plants and from laboratory experiments. This work is the second step in developing a predictive model for SCC on the secondary side. The first step involved developing a statistical framework into which dependencies of the various submodes of SCC can be inserted. The results of the present work will lead to quantitative descriptions of corrosion processes that, in turn, will be incorporated into the statistical framework. The chemistry of heat-transfer crevices will then be assessed to determine the proper inputs to the dependencies of the various submodes of SCC, and these will be connected to bulk environments. The modeling here is directed toward predicting the early occurrence of SCC that is too shallow to be detected by nondestructive examination (NDE)...

Quantitative Assessment of Submodes of Stress Corrosion Cracking on the Secondary Side of Steam Generator Tubing in Pressurized Water Reactors: Part 1

Mechanical property variation within Inconel 82/182 dissimilar metal weld between low alloy steel and 316 stainless steel

https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01469321/document

A phase field method for modeling stress corrosion crack propagation in a nickel base alloy

Microstructural characteristics and mechanical properties of underwater wet flux-cored wire welded 316L stainless steel joints

Microstructure and mechanical properties of underwater wet welded high-carbon-equivalent steel Q460 using austenitic consumables

The fracture toughness of alloy 600 and its weld, EN82H, was characterized in 54 °C to 338 °C air and hydrogenated water. Elastic-plastic JIC testing was performed due to the inherent high toughness of these materials. Alloy 600 exhibited excellent fracture toughness under all test conditions. While EN82H welds displayed excellent toughness in air and high-temperature water, a dramatic toughness degradation occurred in water at temperatures below 149 °C. Comparison of the cracking response in low-temperature water with that for hydrogen-precharged specimens tested in air demonstrated that the loss in toughness is due to a hydrogen-induced intergranular cracking mechanism. At loading rates above ∼1000 MPa\(\sqrt m /h\), the toughness in low-temperature water is improved because there is insufficient time for hydrogen to embrittle grain boundaries. Electron fractographic examinations were performed to correlate macroscopic properties with key microstructural features and operative fracture mechanisms.

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W. J. Mills

Papers

Fracture toughness of alloy 600 and an en82h weld in air and water