• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.1-6
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• 2009

Nuclear power plants (NPP) using Alloy 600 (Ni 75wt%, Cr 15wt%, Fe 10wt%) as a heat exchanger tube of the steam generator (SG) have experienced various corrosion problems by ageing such as pitting, intergranular attack (IGA) and stress corrosion cracking (SCC). In spite of much effort to reduce the material degradations, SCC is still one of important problems to overcome. Especially lead is known to be one of the most deleterious species in the secondary system that cause SCC of the alloy. Even Alloy 690 (Ni 60wt%, Cr 30wt%, Fe 10wt%) as an alternative of Alloy 600 because of outstanding superiority to SCC is also susceptible to leaded environment. An oxide on SG tubing materials such as Alloy 600 and Alloy 690 is formed and modified expanding to complex sludge throughout hideout return (HOR) of various impurities including Pb. Oxide formation and breakdown is requisite for SCC initiation and propagation. Therefore it is expected that an oxide property such as a passivity of an oxide formed on steam generator tubing materials is deeply related to PbSCC and an inhibitor to hinder oxide modification by lead efficiently can be found. In the present work, the SCC susceptibility obtained by using a slow strain rate test (SSRT) in aqueous solutions with and without lead was discussed in view of the oxide property. The oxides formed on Alloy 600 and Alloy 690 in aqueous solutions with and without lead were examined by using a transmission electron microscopy (TEM), an energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDXS), an x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and an electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS).

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.6 no.6
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• pp.316-321
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• 2007

The effect of annealing on the pitting corrosion resistance of anodized Al-Mg alloy (AA5052) processed by equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) was investigated by electrochemical techniques in a solution containing 0.2 mol/L of $AlCl_3$ and also by surface analysis. The Al-Mg alloy was annealed at a fixed temperature between 473 and 573 K for 120 min in air after ECAP. Anodizing was conducted for 40 min at $100-400A/m^2$ at 293 K in a solution containing 1.53 mol/L of $H_2SO_4$ and 0.0185 mol/L of $Al_2(SO_4)_3$. The internal stress generated in anodic oxide films during anodization was measured with a strain gauge to clarify the effect of ECAP on the pitting corrosion resistance of anodized Al-Mg alloy. The time required to initiate the pitting corrosion of anodized Al-Mg alloy was shorter in samples subjected to ECAP, indicating that ECAP decreased the pitting corrosion resistance. However, the pitting corrosion resistance was greatly improved by annealing after ECAP. The time required to initiate pitting corrosion increased with increasing annealing temperature. The strain gauge attached to Al-Mg alloy revealed that the internal stress present in the anodic oxide films was compressive stress, and that the stress was larger with ECAP than without. The compressive internal stress gradually decreased with increasing annealing temperature. Scanning electron microscopy showed that cracks occurred in the anodic oxide film on Al-Mg alloy during initial corrosion and that the cracks were larger with ECAP than without. The ECAP process of severe plastic deformation produces large internal stresses in the Al-Mg alloy; the stresses remain in the anodic oxide films, increasingthe likelihood of cracks. It is assumed that the pitting corrosion is promoted by these cracks as a result of the higher internal stress resulting from ECAP. The improvement in the pitting corrosion resistance of anodized AlMg alloy as a result of annealing appears to be attributable to a decrease in the internal stresses in anodic oxide films