Environmentally assisted cracking in light water reactors. Semiannual report, April 1994--September 1994, Volume 19

Abstract

This report summarizes work performed by Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) on fatigue and environmentally assisted cracking (EAC) in light water reactors from April to September 1994. Topics that have been investigated include (a) fatigue of carbon and low-alloy steel used in piping and reactor pressure vessels, (b) EAC of austenitic stainless steels (SSs) and Alloy 600, and (c) irradiation-assisted stress corrosion cracking (IASCC) of Type 304 SS. Fatigue tests have been conducted on A106-Gr B and A533-Gr B steels in oxygenated water to determine whether a slow strain rate applied during different portions of a tensile-loading cycle are equally effective in decreasing fatigue life. Crack growth data were obtained on fracture-mechanics specimens of SSs and Alloy 600 to investigate EAC in simulated boiling water reactor (BWR) and pressurized water reactor environments at 289{degrees}C. The data were compared with predictions from crack growth correlations developed at ANL for SSs in water and from rates in air from Section XI of the ASME Code. Microchemical changes in high- and commercial-purity Type 304 SS specimens from control-blade absorber tubes and a control-blade sheath from operating BWRs were studied by Auger electron spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy to determine whether trace impurity elements may contribute to IASCC of these materials.