Effect of surface machining on the environmentally-assisted cracking of Alloy 182 and 316L stainless steel in light water reactor environments: results of the collaborative project MEACTOS

Mariia Zimina, Stefan Ritter, Bojan Zajec, Marc Vankeerberghen, Liberato Volpe, Anna Hojna, Rik-Wouter Bosch, Fabio Scenini, Zaiqing Que, Alberto Sáez-Madureulo, Jill Meadows, Michael Grimm, Matthias Herbst, Andraz Legat, Agostino Maurotto, Radek Novotny, Hans-Peter Seifert

    Research outputpeer-review

    Abstract

    The main objective of the EU-funded project mitigating environmentally-assisted cracking through optimisation of surface condition (MEACTOS) was to gain knowledge on the ability of different surface machining procedures to mitigate environmentally-assisted cracking (EAC) in typical light water reactor structural materials and environments. Surfaces of cold-worked (CW) type 316L austenitic stainless steel and nickel-based weld metal Alloy 182 flat tapered tensile specimens were machined using different processes. EAC initiation susceptibility of these specimens was evaluated using constant extension rate tensile (CERT) tests under simulated boiling water reactor (BWR) and pressurized water reactor (PWR) conditions and assessed using constant load experiments. More than a hundred tests were performed covering about 10 years of autoclave testing time. Only minor or no measurable improvements in EAC initiation susceptibility as a function of surface treatments (grinding or advanced machining) compared to the standard industrial face milling were demonstrated. In most cases, the stress thresholds for EAC initiation determined in constant load tests confirmed the trend obtained from CERT tests. This paper summarises the most important results and conclusions concerning the EAC initiation behaviour for theCW316L and Alloy 182 under reducing PWR and oxidizing BWR conditions.
    Original languageEnglish
    Article number0121
    Pages (from-to)545-564
    Number of pages20
    JournalCorrosion Reviews
    Volume41
    Issue number5
    DOIs
    StatePublished - 1 Oct 2023
    Event2022 - EUROCORR: European Corrosion Congress - Berlin
    Duration: 28 Aug 20221 Sep 2022

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • General Chemical Engineering
    • General Chemistry
    • General Materials Science

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