• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.265-272
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• 2023

The aim of this study was to develop a new in-situ observation method and instrument in micro-scale to investigate the mechanism of stress corrosion cracking (SCC) initiation of Ni-base alloys in a high temperature water environment of pressurized water reactors (PWRs). A laser confocal microscope (LCM), an autoclave with diamond window view port, and a slow strain-rate tester with primary water circulation loop system were components of the instrument. Diamond window, one of the core components of the instrument, was selected based on its optical, chemical, and mechanical properties. LCM was used to observe the specimen in micro-scale, considering the experimental condition of a high-temperature primary water environment. Using in-situ method and instrument, it is possible to observe oxidation and deformation of specimen surface in micro-scale through the diamond window in a high-temperature primary water in real-time. The in-situ method and instrument developed in this work can be utilized to investigate effects of various factors on SCC initiation in a high-temperature water environment.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.33-38
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• 2019

Alloy 600/182 with excellent mechanical/chemical properties have been utilized for nuclear power plants. Although both alloys are known to have superior corrosion resistance, stress corrosion cracking failure has been an issue in primary water environment of nuclear power plants. Therefore, primary water stress corrosion crack (PWSCC) growth rate tests were conducted to investigate crack growth properties of Alloy 600/182. To investigate PWSCC growth rate, test facilities including water chemistry loop, autoclave, and loading system were constructed. In PWSCC crack growth rate tests, half compact-tension specimens were manufactured. These specimens were then placed inside of the autoclave connected to the loop to provide primary water environment. Tested conditions were set at temperature of $360^{\circ}C$ and pressure of 20MPa. Real time crack growth rates of specimens inside the autoclave were measured by Direct Current potential drop (DCPD) method. To confirm inter-granular (IG) crack as a characteristic of PWSCC, fracture surfaces of tested specimens were observed by SEM. Finally, crack growth rate was derived in a specific stress intensity factor (K) range and similarity with overseas database was identified.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.7-12
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• 2004

A lifetime prediction of holddown spring screw in nuclear fuel assembly was performed using fracture mechanics approach. The spring screw was designed such that it was capable of sustaining the loads imposed by the initial tensile preload and operational loads. In order to investigate the cause of failure and to predict the stress corrosion cracking life of the screw, a stress analysis of the top nozzle spring assembly was done using finite element analysis. The elastic-plastic finite element analysis showed that the local stresses at the critical regions of head-shank fillet and thread root significantly exceeded than the yield strength of the screw material, resulting in local plastic deformation. Normalized stress intensity factors for PWSCC life prediction was proposed. Primary water stress corrosion cracking life of the Inconel 600 screw was predicted by using integration of the Scott model and resulted in 1.78 years, which was fairly close to the actual service life of the holddown spring screw.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 1998.10a
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• pp.288-291
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• 1998

Inconel 600 alloy is used as the material of nuclear steam generator tubing because of its mechanical properties, formability, and corrosion properties. According to reports, the life time of nuclear power plants decreases because of the pitting, intergranular attack, primary water stress corrosion cracking(PWSCC), and intergranular stress corrosion cracking(IGSCC), and denting in the steam generator. The SCC test is very important because of SCC appears in various environment such as solutions, materials, and stress. The C-Rig specimen was made of the steam generator welded sleeve repairing by the pulsed Nd:YAG laser. In the corrosion invironment, corrosion solutions are Primary Water, Caustic, and Sulfate solution and corrosion time is 1624-4877hr. The permitted stress is 30-60ksi.In this C-Ring SCC test is the relationship between corrosion depth, crack and corrosion environment is evaluated. SCC was happens in Sulfate and Corrosion solution but doesn't happen in Primary Water. The corrosion time and stress is very affected by the severely environment of Sulfate or Caustic solution. The microstructure observation indicates that SCC causes interganular failure in the grain boundary of vertical direction.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.12
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• pp.4481-4490
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• 2022

In this study, a new rupture disk corrosion test (RDCT) method was developed for real-time detection of stress corrosion cracking (SCC) initiation of Alloy 600 in a primary water environment of pressurized water reactors. In the RDCT method, one side of a disk specimen was exposed to a simulated primary water at high temperature and pressure while the other side was maintained at ambient pressure, inducing a dome-shaped deformation and tensile stress on the specimen. When SCC occurs in the primary water environment, it leads to the specimen rupture or water leakage through the specimen, which can be detected in real-time using a pressure gauge. The tensile stress applied to the disk specimen was calculated using a finite element analysis. The tensile stress was calculated to increase as the specimen thickness decreased. The SCC initiation time of the specimen was evaluated by the RDCT method, from which result it was found that the crack initiation time decreased with the decrease of specimen thickness owing to the increase of applied stress. After the SCC initiation test, many cracks were observed on the specimen surface in an intergranular fracture mode, which is a typical characteristic of SCC in the primary water environment.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.343-354
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• 2012

Primary water stress corrosion cracking (PWSCC) is a major safety concern in the nuclear power industry worldwide. PWSCC is known to initiate only in the condition in which sufficiently high tensile stress is applied to alloy 600 tube material or alloy 82/182 weld material in pressurized water reactor operating environments. However, it is still uncertain how much tensile stress is re-quired to generate PWSCC or what causes such high tensile stress. This study was performed to pre-dict the magnitude of weld residual stress and operating stress and compare it with previous experi-mental results for PWSCC initiation. For the study, a pressurizer safety nozzle was selected because it is reported to be vulnerable to PWSCC in overseas plants. The assessment was conducted by nu-merical analysis. Before performing stress analysis for plant conditions, a preliminary mock-up ana-lysis was done. The result of the preliminary analysis was validated by residual stress measurement in the mock-up. After verification of the analysis methodology, an analysis under plant conditions was conducted. The analysis results show that the stress level is not high enough to initiate PWSCC. If a plant is properly welded and operated, PWSCC is not likely to occur in the pressurizer safety nozzle.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.93-101
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• 2013

The object of this work is to establish an electrochemical noise(EN) measurement technique combined with a direct current potential drop(DCPD) method for monitoring of localized corrosion cracking of nickel-based alloy, and to analyze its mechanism. The electrochemical current and potential noises were measured under various conditions of applied stress to a compact tension specimen in a simulated primary water chemistry of a pressurized water reactor. The amplitude and frequency of the EN signals were evaluated in both time and frequency domains based on a shot noise theory, and then quantitatively analyzed using statistical Weibull distribution function. From the spectral analysis, the effect of the current application in DCPD was found to be effectively excluded from the EN signals generated from the localized corrosion cracking. With the aid of a microstructural analysis, the relationship between EN signals and the localized corrosion cracking mechanism was investigated by comparing the shape parameter of Weibull distribution of a mean time-to-failure.

• 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.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.1180-1185
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• 2003

One of the main degradation of steam generator tubes is stress corrosion cracking induced by residual stress. The resulting damages can cause tube bursting or leakage of the primary water which contained radioactivity. Primary water stress corrosion crack occurs at the location of tube/tubesheet hard rolled transition zone. In order to investigate the effect of shot peening on stress corrosion cracking, stress intensity factors are calculated for the crack which is located in the induced residual stress field.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.1036-1046
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• 2016

We propose a primary water stress corrosion cracking (PWSCC) initiation model of Alloy 600 that considers the stress triaxiality factor to apply to finite element analysis. We investigated the correlation between stress triaxiality effects and PWSCC growth behavior in cold-worked Alloy 600 stream generator tubes, and identified an additional stress triaxiality factor that can be added to Garud's PWSCC initiation model. By applying the proposed PWSCC initiation model considering the stress triaxiality factor, PWSCC growth simulations based on the macroscopic phenomenological damage mechanics approach were carried out on the PWSCC growth tests of various cold-worked Alloy 600 steam generator tubes and compact tension specimens. As a result, PWSCC growth behavior results from the finite element prediction are in good agreement with the experimental results.