Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Environmentally assisted cracking in light-water reactors: Semi-annual report, January--June 1997. Volume 24

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/595659· OSTI ID:595659
; ;  [1]
  1. Argonne National Lab., IL (United States); and others

This report summarizes work performed by Argonne National Laboratory on fatigue and environmentally assisted cracking (EAC) in light water reactors from January 1997 to June 1997. Topics that have been investigated include (a) fatigue of carbon, low-alloy, and austenitic stainless steels (SSs) used in reactor piping and pressure vessels, (b) irradiation-assisted stress corrosion cracking of Types 304 and 304L SS, and (c) EAC of Alloys 600 and 690. Fatigue tests were conducted on ferritic and austenitic SSs in water that contained various concentrations of dissolved oxygen (DO) to determine whether a slow strain rate applied during various portions of a tensile-loading cycle is equally effective in decreasing fatigue life. Slow-strain-rate-tensile tests were conducted in simulated boiling water reactor (BWR) water at 288 C on SS specimens irradiated to a low fluence in the Halden reactor and the results were compared with similar data from a control-blade sheath and neutron-absorber tubes irradiated in BWRs to the same fluence level. Crack-growth-rate tests were conducted on compact-tension specimens from several heats of Alloys 600 and 690 in low-DO, simulated pressurized water reactor environments.

Research Organization:
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC (United States). Div. of Engineering Technology; Argonne National Lab., IL (United States); Institutt for Energiteknikk, Halden (Norway). OECD Halden Reaktor Projekt
Sponsoring Organization:
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
W-31109-ENG-38
OSTI ID:
595659
Report Number(s):
NUREG/CR--4667-Vol.24; ANL--98/6-Vol.24; ON: TI98004909
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English