Abstract
Irradiation assisted stress corrosion cracking is a major concern for ageing of light water cooled nuclear reactors. In many industrial cases, welded structures are prone to cracking at relatively early stages in life. A welded thermal shield, extracted from a decommissioned experimental PWR, was selected as a relevant case study for cracking of boiling water reactor core shrouds, having similar dimensions, production methods and operating conditions.
The material was characterised in terms of microstructure and mechanical properties, for irradiation dose levels ranging from 10-5 dpa up to 0.35 dpa. Both base metal and heat affected zone were characterised, correlating the microstructural damage to the irradiation induced hardening of the material. The susceptibility of the material to stress corrosion cracking was determined by slow strain rate testing in simulated boiling water reactor environment
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Characterisation of stress corrosion cracking and microstructure of a welded light water reactor thermal shield after 25 years of service |
Place of Publication | Beijing, China |
Pages | 10-21 |
State | Published - 16 Jun 2005 |
Event | Proc. 16th international corrosion conference - 2005 - ICC Congresses - International Corrosion Council, Beijing Duration: 19 Sep 2005 → 24 Sep 2005 |
Conference
Conference | Proc. 16th international corrosion conference - 2005 |
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Country/Territory | China |
City | Beijing |
Period | 2005-09-19 → 2005-09-24 |