• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.166-177
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• 1997

The high strength AlZnMgCu0.5 alloy is a light metal with good age hardenability, and has a high tensile and yielding strength. Therefore, it can be used for structures requiring high speciple strength. Even though high strength AlZnMgCu alloy has good mechanical properties, it has a lot of problems in TIG and MIG welding processes. Since lots of high heat absorption is introduced into the weldment during TIG and MIG processes, the microstructural variation and hot cracks take place in heat affected zone. Therefore, the mechanical properties of high strength AlZnMgCu0.5 alloy can be degraded in weldment and heat affected zone. Welding process utilizing high density heat source such as electron beam should be developed to reduce pore and hot cracking, whichare usually accompanied by MIG and TIG welding processes. In this work, electron beam welding process were used with or without AlMg4.5Mn as filler material to avoid the degradation of mechanical properties. Mechanical and metallurgical characteristics were also studied in electron beam weldment and heat affected zone. Moreover hot cracking mechanism was also investigated.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.73-80
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• 2013

The primary water stress corrosion cracking (PWSCC) of Alloy 600 in a PWR has been reported in the control rod drive mechanism (CRDM), pressurizer instrumentation, and the pressurizer heater sleeves. Recently, two cases of boric acid precipitation that indicated leaking of the primary cooling water were reported on the bottom head surface of steam generators (SG) in Korea. The PWSCC resistance of Ni base alloys which have intergranular carbides is higher than those which have intragranular carbides. Conversely, in oxidized acidic solutions like sodium sulfate or sodium tetrathionate solutions, the Ni base alloys with a lot of carbides at the grain boundaries and shows less stress corrosion cracking (SCC) resistance. The role of grain boundary carbides in SCC behavior of Ni base alloys was evaluated and effect of intergranular carbides on the SCC susceptibility were reviewed from the literature.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.67-72
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• 2013

Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) behaviors of Alloy 690 were studied in lead-containing aqueous alkaline solutions using the slow strain rate tension (SSRT) tests in 0.1M and 2.5M NaOH with and without PbO at $315^{\circ}C$. The side and fracture surfaces of the alloy were then examined using scanning electron microscopy after the SSRT test. Microstructure and composition of the surface oxide layer were analyzed by using a field emission transmission electron microscopy, equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Even though Alloy 690 was almost immune to SCC in 0.1M NaOH solution, irrespective of PbO addition, the SCC resistance of Alloy 690 decreased in a 2.5M NaOH solution and further decreased by the addition of PbO. Based on thermodynamic stability and solubility of oxide, high Cr of 30wt% in the Alloy 690 is favorable to SCC in mild alkaline and acidic solutions whereas the SCC resistance of high Cr Alloy 690 is weakened drastically in the strong alkaline solution where the oxide is not stable any longer and solubility is too high to form a passive oxide locally.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.47 no.7
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• pp.895-906
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• 2015

Background: Mitigation of primary water stress corrosion cracking (PWSCC) is a significant issue in the nuclear industry. Advanced nickel-based alloys with lower susceptibility have been adopted, although they do not seem to be entirely immune from PWSCC during normal operation. With regard to structural integrity assessments of the relevant components, an accurate evaluation of crack growth rate (CGR) is important. Methods: For the present study, the extended finite element method was adopted from among diverse meshless methods because of its advantages in arbitrary crack analysis. A user-subroutine based on the strain rate damage model was developed and incorporated into the crack growth evaluation. Results: The proposed method was verified by using the well-known Alloy 600 material with a reference CGR curve. The analyzed CGR curve of the alternative Alloy 690 material was then newly estimated by applying the proven method over a practical range of stress intensity factors. Conclusion: Reliable CGR curves were obtained without complex environmental facilities or a high degree of experimental effort. The proposed method may be used to assess the PWSCC resistance of nuclear components subjected to high residual stresses such as those resulting from dissimilar metal welding parts.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.131-136
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• 2023

The aim of this study was to investigate effects of microstructure control on hydrogen diffusivity, trap activation energy, and cracking behaviors of high-strength steel using a range of experimental techniques. Results of this study showed that susceptibility to hydrogen induced cracking (HIC) was significantly associated with hydrogen diffusivity and trap activation energy, which were primarily influenced by the microstructure. On the other hand, microstructural modifications had no significant impact on electrochemical polarization behavior on the surface at an early corrosion stage. To ensure high resistance to HIC of the steel, it is recommended to increase the cooling rate during normalizing to avoid formation of banded pearlite in the microstructure. However, it is also essential to establish optimal heat treatment conditions to ensure that proportions of bainite, retained austenite (RA), and martensite-austenite (MA) constituents are not too high. Additionally, post-heat treatment at below A₁ temperature is desired to decompose locally distributed RA and MA constituents.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1998.05b
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• pp.154-159
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• 1998

In order to assess the susceptibility of the environmentally assisted cracking(EAC) on SA508 Cl.3 steel in primary water condition, potential step test and slow strain rate test(SSRT) were conducted in a simulated crack tip condition. In this test, anodic dissolution was dominant in the crack tip environments. Proposed simple dissolution model is a modification of Hishida's anodic dissolution model at the plastic zone. One can predict actual crack growth rate with the smooth specimen through this model.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.361-371
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• 1993

Among the various test methods for stress corrusiun cracking(SCC) susceptibility evaluatiun, the slow stram rate test(SSHT) method is a rapid and effective nwthod to evaluate the SCC susceptibility of metal in relatively short time. But it is very difficult to analyze the microfracture behaviors in SCC process by using the test(SSRT) method only. Up to now, it has been well known that the acoustic emission(AE) test is the effective technique to monitor the microcrack initiation and propagation in material fracture pmcess. Therefore. in this paper, we analyzed the correlation between the see process and the characteristics of AE signal by using the SSHT and the AE test. According to the test results. the AE signals produced from the material microfracture were clearly depended on the test environment. The AE signal characteristics generated during see process in synthetic sea water were comparatively greater than those. in air. In addition, the SCC behaviors could be definitely evaluated by the amplitude parameter of AE signals.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.303-312
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• 1999

An investigation of the CrMoV rotor steel weldment which experienced by cyclic thermal aging heat treatment and as-received condition was performed. This evaluation was carried out to confirm whether this type of weldment is appropriate for the service environment in terms of microstructural examinations, microhardness measurements and tensile tests. The cyclic thermal aging heat treatment, containing continuous heating and cooling thermal cycle was programmed to simulate the real rotor service condition. The heat treatment was performed for 40 cycles(5920hrs). The results indicated that the weldment was composed of 4 different regions such as heat affected zone of the base metal, butter weld(initial weld), full thickness weld(final weld) and the base metal. The double welding process was applied to eliminate the susceptibility of reheat cracking at heat affected zone of base metal. The grain refinement at the HAZ due to the welding process could reduce the possibility of cracking susceptibility, but its tensile properties was appeared to be low due to the weld metal in as-received condition. The benefit effect, grain refinement was extended with carbides coarsening during the cyclic thermal aging heat treatment. However the poor mechanical properties of the weldment was more degraded as undergoing the heat treatment.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.1-6
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• 2015

Advances in laser technology have yielded a multitude of innovative processes and applications in various industries. Laser peening is a typical example invented in the mid-1990s as a surface technology, which converted residual stress from tension to compression by just irradiating successive laser pulses to metallic materials under aqueous environment without any surface preparation. The effects of laser peening have been experimentally studied on residual stress, stress corrosion cracking(SCC) susceptibility and fatigue properties with water-penetrable frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser. In addition, laser peening has been widely used in aviation and aerospace industries, automobile manufacturing and nuclear plant. One of the most important causes to improve the above-mentioned properties is the deeper compressive residual stress induced by laser peening. Taking advantage of the process without reacting force against laser irradiation, a remote operating system was developed to apply laser peening to nuclear power reactors as a preventive maintenance measure against SCC.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.8-12
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• 2013

Although aluminum-silicon based commercial casting alloys have been used in applications that demand high electrical or thermal conductivity, new aluminum casting alloys that possess higher conductivities are currently required for advanced applications. Therefore, there is much research into the development of new high conductivity aluminum casting alloys that contain lower amounts of or no silicon. In this research, the properties and casting characteristics of Al-Zn-Fe-Si alloys with various Fe and Si contents were investigated. Two types of AlFeSi phases were formed depending on the Fe and Si contents. As the silicon content increased, the tensile strength of the Al-Zn-Fe-Si alloy increased slightly, while the electrical conductivity decreased slightly. It was also observed that both the fluidity and hot cracking susceptibility of the investigated alloys were closely related to the formation of the AlFeSi phases.