03 INL Seminar - SCC in Low Temperature Environments (52) - PC

Stress Corrosion Cracking
in low temperature environments

Pierre Combrade
INL Seminar on SCC in LWRs
Idaho Falls, Idaho, USA, March 19
th
20
th
, 2013
INL SCC 3
Introduction
In addition to the primary coolant circuits, which are exposed
mainly to well controlled aqueous environments, austenitic
stainless steels are used in many auxiliary circuits where
contaminants and oxygen may occasionally be present.
The most widespread and most dangerous contaminants are
obviously chloride ions although other contaminants like sulphur
species may also be of concern.
This presentation will address mainly contamination by chlorides.
Other SCC phenomena possibly relevant to LWRs will also be
briefly mentioned.
2
INL SCC 2013, Pierre Combrade
SUMMARY
Low temperature ( 250 C) stress corrosion cracking of Stainless
Steels:
Generalities
Stress corrosion cracking in chloride environments:
Field experience from LWRs
General phenomenology
Stress corrosion cracking in very dilute environments
External Surface Stress Corrosion Cracking:
Field experience
Atmospheric Stress Corrosion Cracking
Corrosion under Insulation (CUI)

Other low temperature stainless steel SCC phenomena:
Sensitised Stainless Steels

3
SCC of Austenitic SSs
Main environments promoting SCC of non-sensitised austenitic
SSs:
Chloride solutions
Caustic environments:
Aerated, deaerated, hydrogenated
Intergranular and/or transgranular cracking
A general rule is to not use austenitic SSs
in caustic environments above 50/60 C
H
2
S + Chloride:
oil industry

SCC of sensitised austenitic SSs:
BWR environments (see F.P. Ford
presentations)
Reactive sulphur species (Polythionates,
thiosulfates, )
After Combrade
Example of IGSCC of austenitic SS
in 50% NaOH solution at 200 C
4
Chloride SCC: field experience in LWRs
In PWRs, 85 % of SCC events of SS in the PWR primary circuit
are due to contamination in occluded regions (blue bars in the figure):
Main affected zones: Canopy seals, CRDM housings, Valve drain lines
Only 15 % occurred in the nominal flowing environment (red bars in the figure)
After Ilevbare
5
In occluded conditions, contamination of PWR primary water,
when identified, is mainly by chloride and sulphur species
After Ilevbare
6
SS SCC Field Experience in
German NPPs
TGSCC is a recurrent but not critical problem:
~35 events in PWRs and ~40 events in BWRs between 1974 and 2005
SICC = Strain Induced Corrosion Cracking (Low Alloy Steel),
MIC = Microbially Induced Corrosion (mostly Stainless Steels),
FAC = Flow Assisted Corrosion (Carbon Steel with low residual Cr, Cu, Ni, Mo concentrations)
After J endrich et al
7
SS SCC Field Experience in
German NPPs
TGSCC events do not become more frequent with time:
TGSCC is, therefore, not a problem of plant ageing
After J endrich et al
8
TG-SCC: Field experience in LWRs
Dead legs between isolation valves (PWR):
Stagnant water, elevated temperature (>200 C)
Possible two phase environment with evaporation and concentration of solutes near
waterline

TGSCC of non sensitised Type 316 (L)
and cast stainless steels

Attributed to (chloride +oxygen)
and concentrated boric acid

Residual Heat
Removal System
Valve
Water level during
shutdown periods
Primary piping
Two phase environment
With trapped air
Residual Heat
Removal System Primary piping
Air transfer through
open valve
during filling
After Economou et al.
During shutdown periods After filling primary circuit
After Berge et al.
9
Valve housing:
Stagnant conditions
TGSCC of Type 321 stainless steel


After Kilian et al.
10
Valves:
TG-cracks near the gland packing and leakage outlet areas
Contamination comes from an old (now discontinued) gland packing material:
New specifications limit the soluble chloride in packing materials
Note the cracks concentrated in the cold worked surface layer

From Httner & Kilian
11
Canopy seals:
Welded Canopy seals ensure
the leak tightness of threaded
joints between the top of the
vessel head penetrations
(Type 304L SS) and the CRDM
housings (Type 304 SS).
A 2 mm thick TIG weld is made
with Type 308 L SS.
TGSCC of Type 304 SS base metal
has occurred at 150/200 C, in several plants,
independently of any welding defects, but often in conjunction with small pits.
Analyses of water trapped in Canopy
seals have shown few impurities:
Cl
-
usually <1 mg/L
SO
4
2-
up to a few mg/l
Air can be trapped in the Canopy
seal during filling of the primary circuit
Cause of TGSCC not really clear

12
SUMMARY
Low temperature ( 250 C) stress corrosion cracking of Stainless
Steels:
Generalities
External Stress Corrosion Cracking:
Field experience


13
Chloride SCC: general phenomenology
Cracking occurs when corrosion potential exceeds a critical value:
Often close to the pitting potential
Cracks are generally transgranular

Transgranular cracking
of Type 304 SS
in 100 mg/L chloride,
aerated solution at 200 C
After Combrade
Critical potential for SCC

After Poznanski & Duquette
Effect of applied potential on time to failure and reduction
in rupture surface area of specimens continuously strained
in 100 mg/L chloride +100 mg/L sulphate solution at 200 C
14
Chloride SCC: critical potential
In concentrated, moderately acidic, solutions, no oxidising species other than
water are required for cracking to occur:
Example: boiling MgCl
2
solutions used in standard SCC tests
In near neutral, dilute chloride solutions, an oxidising species other than water
is required for SCC to occur:
i.e. no chloride SCC in near neutral deaerated water
Critical potential decreases with increasing chloride concentration
the higher the chloride content, the lower the oxygen concentration required for SCC
Note the deleterious effect of sensitisation
0.01
0.1
1
10
100
1000
10000
0.01 0.1 1 10 100 1000 10000 100000
Chloride (mg/kg)
O
x
y
g
e
n

(
m
g
/
k
g
)
tentative threshold for SCC
at 260-300 C from
re-analyzed Gordon review
SCC
No SCC
From Speidel re-analyzed
Caution: these figures must be considered
as showing trends rather than precise data
15
Chloride SCC: temperature
In near neutral, dilute solutions containing mainly sodium chloride, it is
generally considered that SCC cannot occur below 50/60 C:
The value given in the literature is often 60 C

In very concentrated acidic environments (NaCl + HCl, HCl, HCl + H
2
SO
4
),
SCC can occur at room temperature
Atmospheric SCC may also occur at room temperature, e.g.
Marine environments
Swimming pool environments:
role of volatile monochloramines to transport chlorine from pool water to roof

0
50
100
150
200
250
300
0.1 1 10 100 1000 10000 100000
chloride (mg/kg)
t
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(

C
)
Oberndorfer et al. - near neutral Cl
-
solutions - 321 SS
McIntyre - review - full immersion
McIntyre - review - all data
Truman - NaCl, pH 7 - 304 SS
Herbsleb & Pfeiffer - Ca Cl
2
solutions - 304 SS
16
Chloride SCC: effect of SS composition
Major effect of nickel:
Ni content above ~ 30 to 40 % tends to inhibit SCC of austenitic alloys:
By increasing the critical potential for SCC
Alloy 800 is practically immune in most dilute chloride environments

42% boiling MgCl
2
solution
After Copson
Effect of Ni content on the corrosion potential
and on the critical cracking potential
for 20 % Cr SSs in MgCl
2
solution at 130 C
After Lee and Uhlig
22 % NaCl at 105 C
After Speidel
17
Chloride SCC: effect of SS composition
Effect of Cr not well characterized:
Seems to be a maximum in susceptibility
to chloride SCC for Cr ~20 % to 25 % but
inhibition for higher values
Mo also increases resistance to SCC:
This point has been controversial
Residual elements:
S is detrimental because it decreases
the resistance to localised corrosion:
Role of MnS inclusions
Warning: many results in the literature were
obtained in conventional boiling MgCl
2
solutions that promote cracking in
very short times. They are not necessarily representative of parametric
effects in near-neutral environments:
e.g. Si is very beneficial in MgCl
2
solution but has no major effect in
dilute near-neutral chloride solutions
Effect of Mo concentration on K
I-SCC

of 18 % SS in 22 % NaCl solutions at 105 C
After Speidel
18
Chloride SCC: effect of stress
Threshold stress / stress intensity for cracking:
No precise data in the literature
In conventional MgCl
2
solutions at 154 C:
threshold stress for initiation can be as low as 75 to 120 MPa
K
I-SCC
values as low as 4 MPam have been reported
Crack propagation:
Plateau behaviour for K
I
> K
I-SCC
Crack velocity increases
with temperature:
Results below are consistent
with an apparent activation
energy ~75 kJ /mole

After Speidel
19
SCC in very dilute chloride + sulphate solutions
At 200 C in very dilute solutions in the presence of dissolved oxygen:
SCC of Type 304 SS occurs when the chloride concentration exceeds ~5 to 10 mg/L
However, the simultaneous presence of comparable low concentrations of chloride
and sulphate ions (~mg/l) may cause TGSCC of Type 304 SS in very short times
with the cracks very often initiating from small pits.
This effect of sulphate ions is quite different to that observed in more concentrated
environments where sulphate tends to retard chloride SCC.
Although available water analyses from canopy seals do not exactly fall in the SCC zone,
this synergism between Cl
-
and SO
4
possibly accounts for the observed SCC
After Couvant et al.
Crack initiated at a small pit
in 1 mg/L chloride +1 mg/L
sulphate,
aerated solution at 200 C
After Combrade.
0.01
0.1
1
10
100
0.01 0.1 1 10 100
Chloride (g/g)
S
u
l
f
a
t
e

(
g
/
g
)
Srie1
Srie2
Srie8
Srie9
Srie10
Srie11
Srie12
O2 from 0.5 to 10 g/g - No crack
O2 from 0.5 to 10 g/g - Cracks
O2 ~1300 g/g or E ~204 mV/Ag/Cl - No crack
O2 ~1300 g/g or E ~204 mV/Ag/Cl - Cracks
Deaerated- Shallow cracks
Dearated- No cracks
Analyses of Canopyseal environments
tentative threshold for
aerated environments
tentative threshold
for deaerated conditions
Possible cracking
under dynamic loading
Possible cracking
under static loading
No cracking
Tentative thresholds for SCC in aerated and deaerated PWR primary water
contaminated by low concentrations of chloride and sulphate ions at 200 C
20
Mechanism of chloride TG-SCC
Initiation:
Cracks seems to initiate only in acidic and chloride-rich environments
present either in bulk solutions or in local environments created by
localised corrosion.
Propagation:
Environment in cracks is generally considered to be acidic and Cl-rich
due to local hydrolysis of cations produced by dissolution and to potential
gradients that causes electro-
migration of chloride ions into
cracks.
However, the environment is not
aggressive enough to inhibit
passivation and cause general
corrosion of crack flanks.
Galvanic current
in the liquid
Na
+

21
Mechanism of chloride TG-SCC
Cracking mechanisms:
Not really known
Slip dissolution has been considered by many authors:
Can give reasonable predictions of crack propagation rates
Not really consistent with:
Very brittle appearance of crack surfaces with very accurate matching
of opposite faces
Acoustic emissions
Film-induced cleavage (Newman):
The formation of nano-porous de-alloyed layers has not been clearly
observed in chloride solutions
Hydrogen based mechanisms:
Hydrogen is clearly formed in cracks and in pit precursors due to low local
pH and potential
Hydrogen is claimed to play a role by CEPM but both hydrogen-dislocation
interactions and weakening of atomic bonds are hardly consistent with an
accelerating effect of temperature on SCC
Why not a vacancy related mechanism ??
22
SUMMARY
Low temperature stress corrosion cracking of Stainless Steels:
Generalities
Field experience


23
External corrosion and stress corrosion
External corrosion is not caused by process environments but by those that
occur on the external surfaces of installations.

It is characterized either by surface pitting or SCC, or a combination of both.

External Stress Corrosion Cracking (ESCC) is usually a slow phenomenon
that often takes years to produce significant damage:
Atmospheric stress corrosion (without thermal insulation):
Typically on weld HAZs and/or cold worked materials
More frequently IG than TG because it is often related to sensitisation
Occurs mainly at or near ambient temperature
Corrosion Under Insulation (CUI):
SCC is generally TransGranular and not related to sensitisation
Usually in the range 50/150 C with no marked effect of temperature in this
range
Chloride may come from the insulating material or from external sources,
usually rainwater, fog condensate, wash water, firewater,
24
Chloride ESCC of stainless steels -
field experience in LWRs
Surface contamination:
Thermocouple sheaths in a LWR primary circuit:
Chloride contamination +air trapped in the thermowell dead leg, and an
elevated temperature >250 C TGSCC in a few days
Remedy =surface cleaning at the end of fabrication
Residues of glues, lubricants, adhesive tape,

Leaking line
Cracks on the OD of a Type 304 SS CRD withdrawal line due to polyvinyl Dymo tape stuck on during
fabrication. Time of service ~30 years. Cracking is thought to have occurred during shutdown periods at
temperatures below 100 C when a condensed liquid film could form on the surfaces.
Trace of crack on OD
25
Chloride ESCC of stainless steels -
field experience in LWRs
Atmospheric SCC has been reported at the Koeberg PWR units:
Numerous externally initiated cracks, some through-wall, were observed
on seam welded Type 304 L piping of safety related systems, the
refuelling storage water tanks, and cast valves of both units
Cracking was almost exclusively initiated from surface pits, (see below)
The tanks, piping and valves were manufactured from Type 304L SS
The systems concerned typically operated for > 10 years, below 50C
with no insulation.

Pitting and TG cracks on the outer surfaces of Type 304L SS equipment at Koeberg
After Basson & Wicker
26
Atmospheric Corrosion - Background
Severity of atmospheric corrosion depends on many factors:
Geographic location
Moisture content, time of wetness, and alternating wet and dry periods:
Dry-out leads to very high concentrations of contaminants on surfaces
Temperature
Airborne contaminants:
Chlorides, which are the most damaging species for SSs
Sulphur species
Carbon dioxide
Solar radiation
27
Atmospheres are usually classified as follows (in order
mild to aggressive):
Rural atmospheres
Urban atmospheres
Industrial atmospheres
Marine atmospheres:
which are far more severe than all the others;
whose severity depends on temperature, proximity to the ocean,
elevation above sea level, sunlight, prevailing winds and wave
action, and whether a component is sheltered or not (i.e. rain water
washing possible or not)

28
2004 monthly chloride accumulation at Kure Beach, NC, USA, in mg/m
2
/day
After Gordon et al
For SSs, chlorides are the most deleterious species
Near the seaside, rain water or fog may contain several mg/kg of
chloride and deposition of chloride on surfaces can be very significant
29
Modelling dry-out of surfaces by evaporation shows that the chloride
concentration mainly depends on the [H
+
]/[Cl
-
] ratio of the of rain,
cloud or fog moisture:
[H
+
]/[Cl
-
]

> 1 low chloride, acidic liquid films that are not harmful to SSs
[H
+
]/[Cl
-
]

< 1 high chloride liquid film, which can cause localised
corrosion and/or SCC. Most marine atmospheres fall in this category.
Plot of maximum Cl
-
concentration in evaporated solutions
as a function of the [H
+
]/[Cl
-
]ratio (after Gordon)
30
Uniform and Localised Atmospheric
Corrosion
General corrosion of stainless steel is negligible in all
atmospheres for alloys with Cr contents in excess of ~15 %:
Corrosion rate of Type 3XX series SSs < 25 nm/year after 26 years
of exposure to a severe marine atmosphere (Kure Beach, North Carolina)

Stainless steels may suffer staining and pitting in industrial and
marine atmospheres, particularly on rough surfaces
After J ohnson & Pavlik
31
Field experience outside the nuclear industry:
Typically, but not exclusively, on weld HAZs and/or cold worked materials
More frequently IG than TG because it is often related to sensitisation:
IG related to sensitisation
TG favoured by localised corrosion,
particularly crevice corrosion

Note that atmospheric corrosion and, in particular, SCC is a concern for SS
canisters of radioactive wastes studies are in progress
After Toshima et al
After Toshima et al
32
Parametric Effects
All parametric effects presented in the following slides have been
obtained from laboratory studies with:
controlled amounts of chloride contamination deposited on
surfaces: thus, the results can be used to determine acceptable
levels of surface contamination
specimens subjected to controlled tensile stress
exposed to controlled RH and temperature atmospheres

33
A-SCC and Relative Humidity (RH)
A-SCC occurs in a limited range of relative humidity:
Very low RH No electrolyte film
Very high RH Too low chloride concentration in liquid surface films:
According to Fairweather & Tice, increasing the RH is a safer way to
avoid A-SCC than reducing RH.
After Shoji & Ohnaka
34
A-SCC and Relative Humidity (RH)
Range of critical RH depends on temperature and the chemical composition
of chloride salts:
Max SCC occurs at RH close to saturation RH (P
sat
) of the chloride salt
contaminant, i.e. at the RH that causes the most concentrated surface film

Salts promoting SCC at room temperature are:
MgCl
2
(and seawater due to the presence of MgCl
2
)
CaCl
2
ZnCl
2

25 C 50 C 70 C
Chloride P
sat
RH
max
RH
range
P
sat
RH
max
RH
range
P
sat
RH
max
RH
range

NaCl 75
no
SCC
no
SCC
75
no
SCC
no
SCC
75 60 45-60
MgCl
2
33 30 25-50 30 30 20-50 28 30 20-80
CaCl
2
31 20 15-50 17 20 20-50 18 20 10-80
ZnCl
2
10 10 5-25 10 10 10-40 Und 10 10-40
LiCl 11 n t n t 10 10 n t 11 10
No
data
Synthetic
seawater
n k 30 30-50 n k 30 20-50 n k 30 20-80

35
A-SCC and Chloride Surface
Concentration
A critical chloride concentration in the surface liquid film is required for
atmospheric SCC to occur:
Chloride concentration of the surface film appears to be more important than
pH or the identity of the cation (except for the fact that the cation identity
determines the maximum chloride solubility of the surface films):
Only chloride salts that give very concentrated
liquid films produce A-SCC at room temperature:
NaCl films are not concentrated enough
to promote SCC at room temperature
Crack propagation rate increases with increasing
chloride concentration of surface films:
Too low pH values of surface films are suspected to
reduce crack propagation rates (see ZnCl
2
vs. LiCl)

SCC may occur in concentrated solutions of salts at
the same temperature as in atmospheric exposure,
Both A-SCC and SCC in bulk solutions occur
near 50 to 60 C for NaCl
SCC is possible in MgCl
2
bulk solutions at 30 C

36
A-SCC Initiation
Initiation of cracks occurs very frequently from pits, but not always:
Warning - Cracks can develop on visually clean surfaces and can be
missed by visual examination (Fairweather et al)
Laboratory tests show that initiation occurs after relatively short
exposure times, i.e. weeks or a few months
Field experience shows that
A-SCC usually requires much
longer times
This means that the lifetimes of
components subject to atmospheric
corrosion are controlled by the time
required to obtain the critical surface
contamination and/or the time during
which these critical surface conditions
prevail:
In particular, surface contamination of non sheltered components can be
periodically washed away by rain and thereby retard or avoid A-SCC

37
A-SCC Other Influencing Parameters
Sensitisation increases susceptibility to A-SCC and promotes
IGSCC
Temperature:
Increasing temperature increases susceptibility to A-SCC:
SCC can occur in more dilute solutions when temperature increases

salts that are unable to propagate SCC at RT may promote cracking at
higher temperatures
e.g. NaCl promotes SCC at temperatures > 50/60 C
Increasing temperature decreases initiation times and increases propagation
rates
Stress:
Very low stresses can promote A-SCC

Surface condition:
Roughness and dust favour crack initiation
Surface cold work and residual tensile stresses
favour crack initiation
Importance of good surface finish and cleanliness
After Tani et al
38
Corrosion under insulation (CUI) -
field experience
Very widespread phenomenon in the chemical industry:
Example of SCC under insulation of a Type 304 L vessel undergoing
thermal cycles from < 0 to + 80 C shown below.
TG Cracks occurred both on base metal and welds

Chloride is thought to have come from insulating materials
Chloride-rich condensed film may form during cooling
Remedy = low chloride insulating material and cathodic protection by
wrapping Al foils around the vessel

From Combrade
39
Corrosion under insulation (CUI) -
field experience
In LWRs:
no recent open literature reports of CUI

In the early 60s, SCC under insulation occurred during initial hot
functional tests of the Nuclear Merchant Ship Savannah, due to wetted
chloride containing insulation
The remedies were to clean all surfaces, to replace the insulation by a
lower chloride product inhibited with 20 % sodium silicate, and to seal
the insulation in order to prevent water ingress. Wrapping with Al foil
was considered but not applied
40
Chloride SCC: Mitigation of CUI
Selection of an appropriate insulation material:
Several standards are available,
e.g. NRC Regulatory Guide 1-36
Limited level of leachable chloride
(ASTM C-795) or
chloride+ fluoride (NRC, and MIL I-24244)
Presence of inhibiting salts,
i.e. sodium silicate
Limited pH range of leaching solution
(7 to 11.7 for ASTM C 795)

Limitations of this approach:
These standards are based on old results (1967) that may be somewhat
optimistic according to more recent data
These standards implicitly assume that no additional contamination will
be added by an external source:
Rain water, for example, may bring much more chloride than that which is
contained in the insulation
In addition, external water may wash inhibitors out of the insulation
41
Chloride SCC: Mitigation of SCC
under insulation
Other countermeasures:
Seal the insulation to avoid ingress of external water
Use coatings to prevent contact of metallic surfaces with water
Use cathodic protection:
Use Al containing paints or foil coating:
Wrapping the surfaces with Al foil has proven to be effective even
when the Al foil is heavily corroded
Avoid Zn because of the possibility of liquid metal embrittlement of SSs by
molten Zn in case of fire Very rapid IG cracking
42
SUMMARY
Low temperature ( 250 C) stress corrosion cracking of
Stainless Steels:
Generalities
Field experience


43
IG-SCC of sensitised austenitic Alloys in
solutions with reactive sulfur species
Field experience:
IG-SCC of sensitised Stainless Steel occurs mainly in oil industry;
e.g. in desulfurising units during shut down if the atmosphere is not safely
deaerated

In LWR reactors, reactive sulphur species may be present due to
accidental ingress of resins that are thermally decomposed:
IG-SCC of sensitized Alloy 600 in CRDM nozzle occurred at Zorita
Alloy 800 SG Tubes ???

44
IG SCC of sensitized austenitic Alloys in
solutions with reactive sulphur species
Phenomenology:
IG-SCC occurs in:
Polythionate solutions tetrathionate is the most aggressive species
Thiosulphate solutions
To a lesser extent, sulphite solutions
IG-SCC is clearly due to sensitisation,
i.e. Grain Boundary Cr-depletion,
due to heating in the 500-800 C
range by nearby welding, stress
relieving , ....

After Hosoya et al.
45
IG SCC of sensitised austenitic Alloys in
Phenomenology:
IG-SCC occurs similarly on sensitised Stainless Steels and Ni-base alloys
It occurs at room temperature and is accelerated by higher temperatures
It occurs in a limited range of potential that includes the free corrosion
potential in aerated solutions

After Macdonald et al.
After Hosoya et al.
46
Phenomenology:
Susceptibility to IG-SCC increases with the concentration of
polythionate (or thiosulphate)
After Hosoya et al. After Macdonald et al.
47
Phenomenology:
Crack morphology changes
from IG-SCC to IGA
depending on pH and potential
After Matshushima
After Hosoya et al.
48
IG SCC of sensitised austenitic alloys in
reactive sulphur species solutions
Mechanism of cracking:
Probably the so-called Stress-Assisted InterGranular Cracking
mechanism:
Intergranular corrosion oxidises grain boundaries
Stress causes cracking (or opening of pores) of GB oxides and increases
grain boundary oxidation rates
Adsorption on metal surfaces of reactive sulphur species enhances
dissolution (oxidation) rates
49
Conclusions
In LWRs, corrosion of austenitic Stainless Steels by contaminated
environments is not a severe problem but it keeps recurring.
Chloride ions are by far the most dangerous contaminant
although sulphur ions may also be of concern:
Fluoride is rarely mentioned, which can come from welding and
soldering fluxes. To our knowledge, no recent corrosion due to fluoride
has been reported in LWRs.
Pitting and crevice corrosion are rarely a problem per se but they
can lead to SCC.
SCC due to contaminants in the main primary circuits is unlikely
except:
in the case of sensitized SSs (and Ni base alloys) in the presence of
reactive sulphur species (typically polythionates) that can cause rapid
IGSCC at ambient temperature,
in occluded regions of the primary circuit where oxygen, chloride (and
sulphate) ions may be present, at least temporarily, at temperatures
above 100 C.
50
Conclusions
Other SCC events in austenitic stainless steels are not frequent
but when they occur, they are due to:
Surface contamination during fabrication
External corrosion in marine atmospheres
To our knowledge, no corrosion of SS under insulation has been
openly reported recently in LWRs
51
Recommendations to prevent corrosion
of stainless steels
Material:
Avoid sensitisation
Avoid excessive cold work (Hv > ~300) that can enhance many corrosion
processes, and particularly SCC
Surface condition:
Limit surface cold work and geometrical defects due to machining or
finishing processes
At the end of fabrication, pickle surfaces to eliminate deleterious
inclusions, surface Cr- and Mo-depletions, and contamination.
Then passivate to build up a robust passive layer in a
non-contaminated environment
Keep surfaces clean: specify maximum allowable surface contamination:
There is no universal criterion but <1 mg/m
2
has been used although very
difficult to achieve at coastal locations
Use qualified insulating materials and prevent, as much as possible,
access of external water into the insulating material

52

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