Intergranular oxidation of 316L stainless steel in the PWR primary water environment

Intergranular oxidation of 316L stainless steel in the PWR primary water environment

•Inner Cr-rich oxide growth kinetics is strongly dependent on grain microtexture.•This oxide growth is greater at lower temperatures in 290°C–320°C range.•It is proposed that an epitaxial metal/oxide interface promotes oxide growth.•The epitaxial interface may degrade due to differential rates of th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Corrosion science Vol. 125; pp. 175 - 183
Main Authors: Matthews, R.P., Knusten, R.D., Westraadt, J.E., Couvant, T.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Ltd 15-08-2017
Elsevier BV
Subjects:
Austenitic stainless steel
Austenitic stainless steels
Epitaxial growth
Epitaxy
Exposure
Intergranular oxidation
Microtexture
Oxidation
Pressurized water reactors
Primary water
Stainless steel
Stress corrosion cracking
Thermal expansion
Intergranular oxidation
Primary water
Stainless steel
Epitaxy
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Summary:•Inner Cr-rich oxide growth kinetics is strongly dependent on grain microtexture.•This oxide growth is greater at lower temperatures in 290°C–320°C range.•It is proposed that an epitaxial metal/oxide interface promotes oxide growth.•The epitaxial interface may degrade due to differential rates of thermal expansion. After exposing AISI 316L stainless steel to the primary water environment across a range of temperatures (290°C–360°C) for 1000h, the oxidation growth of the Cr-rich inner layer was measured. Samples exposed at 290°C proved to have significantly greater oxide penetration than samples exposed at the higher temperatures. Furthermore, the annealed samples exhibit strong dependence of oxide growth on microtexture. The results suggest that an epitaxial relationship exists between the metal and the Cr-rich oxide, and that this relationship degrades above 290°C as a result of differential thermal expansion between the oxide and the metal matrix.
ISSN:0010-938X
1879-0496
DOI:10.1016/j.corsci.2017.06.023