Effects of strain induced martensite on high temperature electrochemical performance of 321 stainless steel in the simulated PWR first circuit environment

Abstract

The electrochemical properties of 321 stainless steel with different cold strains in simulated PWR first circuit environment were studied mainly by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The results show that with the increase of strain (0, 20%), the charge transfer resistance increases and the film resistance decreases. By combining the electrochemical experiments and microscopic characterization results of different specimens, including solution annealed, cold worked and hot worked, it is found that the charge transfer resistance increases with the increase of deformation degree, the increase of strain induced martensite content enriches Cr in the oxide layer, but with the decreased material corrosion resistance.