Environmentally assisted cracking in light water reactors

Technical Report · Wed May 01 00:00:00 EDT 1991

OSTI ID:5792845

Chung, H M; Kassner, T F; Shack, W J; Ruther, W E; Park, J Y; Sanecki, J E ^[1]

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1. Argonne National Lab., IL (USA)

This report summarizes work performed by Argonne National Laboratory on environmentally assisted cracking in light water reactors during the six months from April 1990 to September 1990. Crack-growth-rate (CGR) tests were performed on a composite A533-Gr B/Inconel-182 specimen in which a stress corrosion crack in the Inconel-182 weld metal penetrated and grew into the A533-Gr B steel. CGR tests were also conducted on conventional (nonplated) and Ni- or Au-plated A533-Gr B specimens. CGR data on the A533-Gr B specimens were compared with the fatigue crack reference curves in the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section 11 Appendix A. High- and commercial-purity (HP) and (CP), respectively, specimens of Type 304 SS from BWR absorber-rod tubes, irradiated during service to fluence levels of 6 {times} 10{sup 20} {minus} 2 {times} 10{sup 21} n{center dot}cm{sup {minus}2} (E > 1, MeV) in two reactors, were examined by Auger electron spectroscopy to characterize irradiation-induced grain boundary segregation and depletion of alloying and impurity elements, which have been associated with irradiation-assisted stress corrosion cracking of the steel. Intergranular fracture surfaces in high-fluence CP material were characterized by relatively high levels of Si, P, and Ni segregation. Segregation of the impurity elements and intergranular failure in the HP material were negligible for a similar fluence level. However, grain boundary depletion of Cr was more significant in high-purity material than in CP material, which indicates that irradiation-induced segregation of impurity elements and depletion of alloying elements are interdependent. 29 refs., 14 figs., 4 tabs.

• Research Organization: Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC (USA). Div. of Engineering; Argonne National Lab., IL (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: NRC; Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 5792845
• Report Number(s): NUREG/CR-4667-Vol.11; ANL--91/9; ON: TI91012496
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360103 -- Metals & Alloys-- Mechanical Properties
360105 -- Metals & Alloys-- Corrosion & Erosion
360106 -- Metals & Alloys-- Radiation Effects
ALLOYS
BOILERS
BWR TYPE REACTORS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CONTAINERS
CORROSION
CRACK PROPAGATION
CRACKS
DOCUMENT TYPES
ELEMENTS
FATIGUE
FERRITIC STEELS
FRACTURE MECHANICS
INCONEL ALLOYS
IRON ALLOYS
IRON BASE ALLOYS
LOW ALLOY STEELS
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
MECHANICS
NICKEL ALLOYS
NICKEL BASE ALLOYS
NONMETALS
PHOSPHORUS
PHYSICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
PIPES
PRESSURE VESSELS
PROGRESS REPORT
PWR TYPE REACTORS
RADIATION EFFECTS
REACTORS
SEMIMETALS
SILICON
STEAM GENERATORS
STEEL-ASTM-A533
STEELS
STRESS CORROSION
VAPOR GENERATORS
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS