Stress corrosion in low alloy steels

Stress corrosion cracking of low-alloy reactor pressure vessel steels under boiling water reactor conditions

“…were always involved [5,[8][9][10]. These cases were attributed either to straininduced corrosion cracking (SICC) or low-frequency corrosion fatigue (CF) [5,[8][9][10]. Cases with a major contribution of SCC in properly manufactured and heat-treated LAS primary pressure-boundary components are not known to the authors.…”

“…The accumulated operating experience and performance of low-alloy primary pressure-boundary components is very good worldwide [5][6][7][8][9][10]. Instances of EAC have occurred particularly in BWR service, most often in lowalloy steel (LAS) piping and, very rarely, in the RPV itself [5,[8][9][10].…”

“…Oxidizing agents, usually dissolved oxygen (DO), and relevant dynamic straining (e.g., arising from thermal stratification/stripping, thermal and pressurisation cycles during start-up/shut-down, etc.) were always involved [5,[8][9][10]. These cases were attributed either to straininduced corrosion cracking (SICC) or low-frequency corrosion fatigue (CF) [5,[8][9][10].…”

“…Instances of EAC have occurred particularly in BWR service, most often in lowalloy steel (LAS) piping and, very rarely, in the RPV itself [5,[8][9][10]. Oxidizing agents, usually dissolved oxygen (DO), and relevant dynamic straining (e.g., arising from thermal stratification/stripping, thermal and pressurisation cycles during start-up/shut-down, etc.)…”

Effects of LWR environments on fatigue life of carbon and low-alloy steels

“…The fatigue crack growth behavior of ferritic steels in high-temperature oxygenated water and the effects of sulfur content and loading rate are well known (13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18). Dissolution of MnS inclusions changes the water chemistry near the crack tip, making it more aggressive.…”