A quantitative method of eutectic reaction study between boron carbide and stainless steel

Abstract

Core Disruptive Accident (CDA) is a critical scenario in the Generation IV sodium-cooled fast reactor development. One of the key issues in the CDA evaluation is the eutectic reaction between Boron carbide (B4C) and Stainless Steel (SS). For developing a physical model in the CDA analysis code, it is necessary to investigate the B4C-SS eutectic reaction. To assess the reaction, one quantitative and high-resolution method using Joule heating is proposed in this study. Experiments were conducted using B4C material and SUS304 tubes. With an originally proposed equation, reaction rate constant data in the 1450 K-1500 K range were obtained, which was scarce in the past. The derived reaction rate constant values are consistent with the reference values. The reaction layer microstructure observation and the associated chemical composition analysis were also conducted. The proposed method is validated by the results. It can be concluded that the new method is credible with high efficiency.