• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.30-33
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• 2004

It has been reported that some events of a rupture of seam generator tube have occurred in nuclear power plants around the world. Main causes of the leakage are from various types of corrosion in the steam generator(SG) tubings. Primary water stress corrosion cracking(PWSCC) of steam generator tubings have occurred in many tubes in Korean plant, and they were repaired using sleeves or plugs, In order to develop proper repair criteria, it is necessary to ascertain the leak behavior of the tubings. A high pressure leak and burst testing system was manufactured. Various types of Electro Discharged Machined (EDM) notches were developed on the SG tubes. Leak rate and burst pressure were measured on the tubes at room temperature. Burst pressure of the part through wall defected tubes depends on the defect depth, Water flow rates after the burst were independent of the t1aw types; tubes having 20 to 60 mm long EDM notches showed similar flow rates regardless of the defect depth. A fast pressurization rate gave the tube a lower burst pressure than the case of a slow pressurization.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.214-219
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• 2023

Considering the case in the United States where most nuclear power plants with an initial design life of 40 years continue to operate until 60 or 80 years after undergoing material soundness evaluation, it is time to plan a more robust long-term operation strategy for nuclear power plants in Korea. There are some reports that SRO/LRO might be formed when Alloy 690 is heat treated for 10,000 hours to 100,000 hours at 360 to 450 ℃. The possibility of LRO formation in Alloy 690 steam generator tubings of Kori nuclear power plant unit 1 (Kori-1) was investigated using existing research papers. The mechanism in which SRO/LRO occurred was also surveyed. Alloy 690 was found to be more likely to cause ordering than Alloy 600 in terms of alloy composition. The ordering could be evaluated through changes in material properties. However, it is difficult to evaluate it from a microstructural point of view. The likelihood of LRO in Alloy 690 of the Kori-1 plant operated at 320 ℃ for 19 years seemed to be low in terms of time and exposure temperature.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 2001.05a
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• pp.282-282
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• 2001

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1998.10a
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• pp.240-240
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• 1998

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.232.2-232
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• 2002

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.1021-1022
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• 2004

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.3 no.6
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• pp.233-239
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• 2004

Primary water stress corrosion cracking of steam generator tubings occur on many tubes in pressurized water reactors(PWRs), and they are repaired using sleeves or plugs. In order to develop proper repair criteria, it is necessary to know the leak behavior of the tubes, which have stress corrosion cracks. Crack development tests were carried out on the tubes at room temperature, and leak rate and burst pressure were measured on the degraded tubes at room temperature and a high temperature. No leakage was detected on the tubes where 100 % through wall crack developed, at 1560 psi, which is an operating pressure difference of pressurized water reactors(PWRs). In some tests, leak rates of the tubes increased with time at a constant internal water pressure. A test tube showed a very small amount of leakage at 2700 psi in a high temperature pressure test at $282^{\circ}C$, but it disappeared after the pressure increased slightly. Even cracks are 100 % through wall, they need to open in order to reach a certain amount of leak rate at the operating pressure difference.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.112-119
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• 2014

In this work, it is aimed to develop the fabrication method of axial stress corrosion cracking (SCC) defects having various sizes, on the outer diameter surface of the steam generator (SG) tubings. To control the length of the artificial SCC defect, the specific area of the SG tubing samples was exposed to an acidic solution after a sensitization heat treatment. During the exposure to an acidic solution, a direct current potential drop (DCPD) method was adopted to monitor the crack depth. The size of the SCC defect was first evaluated by an eddy current test (ECT), and then confirmed by a destructive examination. From the comparison, it was found that the actual crack length was well controlled to be similar to the length of the surface exposed to an acidic solution (5, 10, 20 or 30 mm in this work) with small standard deviation. From in-situ monitoring of the crack depth using the DCPD method, it was possible to distinguish a non-through wall crack from a through wall crack, even though the depth of the non-through wall crack was not able to be precisely controlled. The fabrication method established in this work was useful to simulate the SCC defect having similar size and ECT signals as compared to the field cracks in the SG tubings of the operating Korean PWRs.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.5 no.5
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• pp.168-172
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• 2006

Alloy 600 having a superior resistance to a corrosion is used as a steam generator tubing in nuclear power plants. In spite of its high corrosion resistance, there are many tubings which experience corrosion problems such as a SCC under the high temperature and high pressure environments of nuclear power plants. The Alloy 600 tubing can be repaired by using a Ni electroplating having an excellent SCC resistance. In order to carry out a successful Ni electrodeposition inside a steam generator tubing, the effects of various parameters on the material properties of the electrodeposit should be elucidated. Hence this work deals with the effects of an applied current density, duty cycle($T_{on}/(T_{on}+T_{off})$) of a pulse current, bath temperature and solution pH on the material properties of Ni electrodeposit obtained from a Ni sulphamate bath by analyzing the current efficiency, potentiodynamic curve, hardness and stress-strain curve. Hardness, YS(yield strength) and TS(tensile strength) decreased whereas the elongation increased as the applied current density increased. This was thought to be by a concentration depletion at the interface of the electrodeposit/solution, and a fractional decrease of the hydrogen reduction reaction. As the duty cycle increased, the hardness, YS and TS decreased while the elongation increased. During an off time at a high duty cycle, the concentration depletion could not be recovered sufficiently enough to induce a coarse grain sized electrodeposit. With an increase of the solution temperature and pH, the YS and TS increased while the elongation decreased. The experimental results of the hardness and the stress-strain curves can be supplemented by the results of the potentiodynamic curve.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.187-191
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• 2008

Transgranular stress corrosion cracking of nickel base alloys was reported by Copson and Dean in 1965. Study to establish this cracking mechanism needs to be carried out. Laboratory stress corrosion tests were performed for mill annealed(MA) or thermally treated(TT) steam generator tubing materials in a high temperature water containing lead. An electrochemical interaction of lead with the alloying elements of SG tubings was also investigated. Alloy 690 TT showed a transgranular stress corrosion cracking in a 40% NaOH solution with 5000 ppm of lead, while intergranular stress corrosion racking was observed in a 10% NaOH solution with 100 ppm lead. Lead seems to enhance the disruption of passive film and anodic dissolution of alloy 600 and alloy 690. Crack tip blunting at grain boundary carbides plays a role for the transgranular stress corrosion cracking.