Metallurgical evaluation of stress corrosion cracking in large diameter piping

Abstract

Ultrasonic testing (UT) of stainless-steel piping in the primary coolant water system of Savannah River Site (SRS) reactors indicates the presence of short, partly through-wall stress corrosion cracks in the heat-affected zone of approximately 7% of the circumferential pipe welds. These cracks are thought to develop by intergranular nucleation and mixed mode propagation. Metallographic evaluations have confirmed the UT indications of crack size and provided evidence that crack growth involved the accumulation of chloride ions inside the growing crack. It is postulated that the development of an oxygen depletion cell inside the crack results in the migration of chloride ions to the crack tip to balance the accumulation of positively charged metallic ions. The results of this metallurgical evaluation, combined with structural assessments of system integrity, support the existence of leak-before-break conditions in the SRS reactor piping system.