Plastic Deformation Processes Accompanying Stress Corrosion Crack Propagation in Irradiated Austenitic Steels

Conference · Sun Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04639-2_154· OSTI ID:3002980

Gussev, Maxim N ^[1]; Was, Gary ^[2]; Busby, Jeremy ^[1]; Leonard, Keith ^[1]

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1. ORNL
2. University of Michigan

During stress corrosion crack propagation, stress values in the crack tip vicinity often exceed material yield stress limit. Plastic deformation processes may accompany and influence cracking. Here, stress corrosion crack propagation and deformation mechanisms were investigated using EBSD analysis. The investigated material was 304L Ti-enriched austenitic stainless steel irradiated to 10.4 dpa at 320°C in the BOR-60 fast reactor. Crack growth tests were conducted in a simulated Normal Water Chemistry (NWC) environment in the temperature range 288–320 °C using compact tension specimens. By analyzing crack trajectory and grain structure in the crack vicinity, it was established that grain orientation with respect to the acting stress direction was not a key factor controlling crack propagation. No crystallographic orientation susceptible to cracking was identified. Also, EBSD analysis revealed strong inhomogeneity in plastic strain distribution along the crack path. Most crack-adjacent grains remained virtually strain-free whereas few grains experienced strong plastic strain. These areas were presumed to be “plastic bridges” or “ductile ligaments.”

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 3002980
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English