skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Microstructural Effects on SCC Initiation PWR Primary Water Cold-Worked Alloy 600

Conference ·

SCC initiation behavior of one mill annealed alloy 600 plate heat was investigated in simulated PWR primary water under constant load at yield stress with in-situ direct current potential drop (DCPD) monitoring for crack initiation. Twelve specimens were tested at similar cold work levels among which three showed much shorter SCC initiation times (<400 hrs) than the others (>1200 hrs). Post-test examinations revealed that these three specimens all feature an inhomogeneous microstructure where the primary crack always nucleated along the boundary of large elongated grains protruding normally into the gauge. In contrast, such microstructure was either not observed or did not extend deep enough into the gauge in the other specimens exhibiting ~3-6X longer initiation times. In order to better understand the role of this microstructural inhomogeneity in SCC initiation, high-resolution microscopy was performed to compare carbide morphology and strain distribution between the long grains and normal grains, and their potential effects on SCC initiation are discussed in this paper.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1440629
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-126736; 830403000
Resource Relation:
Conference: Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Environmental Degradation of Materials in Nuclear Power Systems – Water Reactors (EDM 2017), 1:217-229
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (1)

Stress corrosion crack initiation of alloy 600 in PWR primary water journal July 2017