TY - JOUR
T1 - The role of oxide films in preventing liquid metal embrittlement of T91 steel exposed to liquid lead-bismuth eutectic
AU - Gong, Xing
AU - Marmy, Pierre
AU - Yin, Yuan
N1 - Score=10
PY - 2018/7/10
Y1 - 2018/7/10
N2 - The effect of oxygen concentration dissolved in liquid lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) on the low cycle fatigue
properties of T91 ferritic-martensitic steel has been investigated under different temperatures,
strain rates and total strain ranges, with an emphasis on the role of oxide films in prevention of liquid
metal embrittlement (LME). The results showed that the fatigue life in the presence of LBE was strongly
temperature-dependent. Specifically, the fatigue life was observed to decrease with increasing the
temperature from 160 C up to 350 C, and then show an increasing trend up to 450 C. Only at the
relatively high temperature range of 300e450 C, the oxygen concentration played a role, and the
oxygen-saturated condition was found to increase the fatigue life by a factor of 2e3 in comparison to the
oxygen-depleted condition. In addition, a significant oxygen effect was also observed under low total
strain ranges, and especially the fatigue life was found to be comparable with that in vacuum under a
combination of high oxygen, slow strain rates and low total strain ranges. This can be attributed to
protective oxide films that were not damaged under this condition and hence had delayed fatigue crack
initiation. Once cracks initiated, however, LME occurred at crack tips, causing fast crack propagation.
Thus, the nature that T91 is susceptible to LME was not changed by the oxides. The results indicate that
under the optimum operation conditions, i.e. adequate LBE oxygen levels, slow strain rates and low
applied cyclic deformations, the fatigue life degradation of T91 exposed to LBE can be kept to a minimum.
AB - The effect of oxygen concentration dissolved in liquid lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) on the low cycle fatigue
properties of T91 ferritic-martensitic steel has been investigated under different temperatures,
strain rates and total strain ranges, with an emphasis on the role of oxide films in prevention of liquid
metal embrittlement (LME). The results showed that the fatigue life in the presence of LBE was strongly
temperature-dependent. Specifically, the fatigue life was observed to decrease with increasing the
temperature from 160 C up to 350 C, and then show an increasing trend up to 450 C. Only at the
relatively high temperature range of 300e450 C, the oxygen concentration played a role, and the
oxygen-saturated condition was found to increase the fatigue life by a factor of 2e3 in comparison to the
oxygen-depleted condition. In addition, a significant oxygen effect was also observed under low total
strain ranges, and especially the fatigue life was found to be comparable with that in vacuum under a
combination of high oxygen, slow strain rates and low total strain ranges. This can be attributed to
protective oxide films that were not damaged under this condition and hence had delayed fatigue crack
initiation. Once cracks initiated, however, LME occurred at crack tips, causing fast crack propagation.
Thus, the nature that T91 is susceptible to LME was not changed by the oxides. The results indicate that
under the optimum operation conditions, i.e. adequate LBE oxygen levels, slow strain rates and low
applied cyclic deformations, the fatigue life degradation of T91 exposed to LBE can be kept to a minimum.
KW - LBE
UR - http://ecm.sckcen.be/OTCS/llisapi.dll/open/31714542
U2 - 10.1016/j.jnucmat.2018.07.018
DO - 10.1016/j.jnucmat.2018.07.018
M3 - Article
SN - 0022-3115
VL - 509
SP - 401
EP - 407
JO - Journal of Nuclear Materials
JF - Journal of Nuclear Materials
ER -