Characterisation of stress corrosion cracking and microstructure of a welded light water reactor thermal shield after 25 years of service

Steven Van Dyck, Abderrahim Al Mazouzi, raluca stoenescu, didier gavillet

    Research outputpeer-review

    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 languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationCharacterisation of stress corrosion cracking and microstructure of a welded light water reactor thermal shield after 25 years of service
    Place of PublicationBeijing, China
    Pages10-21
    StatePublished - 16 Jun 2005
    EventProc. 16th international corrosion conference - 2005 - ICC Congresses - International Corrosion Council, Beijing
    Duration: 19 Sep 200524 Sep 2005

    Conference

    ConferenceProc. 16th international corrosion conference - 2005
    Country/TerritoryChina
    CityBeijing
    Period2005-09-192005-09-24

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