Effect of Precipitation on Stress Corrosion Cracking Initiation of Nickel Based 718 Alloy in High Temperature and High Pressure Water

doi:10.11902/1005.4537.2024.319

Journal of Chinese Society for Corrosion and protection

2025, Vol. 45

Issue (4): 947-955 DOI: 10.11902/1005.4537.2024.319

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Effect of Precipitation on Stress Corrosion Cracking Initiation of Nickel Based 718 Alloy in High Temperature and High Pressure Water

LI Weipeng¹^,², LUO Kunjie¹, WANG Huisheng³, CHEN Jiacheng³, HAN Yaolei¹, PANG Xiaolu², PENG Qunjia¹(

), QIAO Lijie²(

)

1 Suzhou Nuclear Power Research Institute, Suzhou 215004, China
2 Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Materials Genome Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China
3 CGNPC Uranium Resources Co., Ltd., Yangjiang 529500, China

Cite this article:

LI Weipeng, LUO Kunjie, WANG Huisheng, CHEN Jiacheng, HAN Yaolei, PANG Xiaolu, PENG Qunjia, QIAO Lijie. Effect of Precipitation on Stress Corrosion Cracking Initiation of Nickel Based 718 Alloy in High Temperature and High Pressure Water. Journal of Chinese Society for Corrosion and protection, 2025, 45(4): 947-955.

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Abstract

Nickel based 718 alloy is commonly used to fabricate grid springs for pressure water reactor, due to its excellent mechanical properties, relative ease of manufacturing, and good corrosion resistance. There is a risk of stress corrosion cracking (SCC) for nickel based 718 alloy in harsh environments such as irradiation, stress, and high temperature and pressure water in the primary circuit. In recent years, fuel rod damage caused by SCC of nickel based 718 alloy grid springs has emerged both domestically and internationally, which has a significant impact on the safety, reliability, and economy of nuclear power plants. Herein, the SCC initiation behavior of nickel based 718 alloy strips, being subjected to standard heat treatment, in a simulated pressurized water environment of primary circuit of nuclear power plant was assessed, while the evolution of crack initiation on the alloy surface was observed through intermittent sampling under different strain conditions. It is found that the cracking of 718 alloy emerged mainly on grain boundaries, meanwhile, the precipitates of (Nb, Ti)C tend to be oxidized into brittle Nb containing oxides. The oxidized (Nb, Ti)C and TiN are easy crack under the action of stress. With the increase of strain, cracks at grain boundaries and on particles (Nb, Ti)C tend to further propagating, and the cracks at TiN tend to expanding towards grain boundaries. Therefore, (Nb, Ti)C and TiN may play a detrimental role to the SCC resistance of nickel based 718 alloy.

Key words: nuclear power nickel based 718 alloy stress corrosion crack initiation microstructure

Received: 30 September 2024 32134.14.1005.4537.2024.319

ZTFLH:

TL341

Fund: CGN-USTB Joint Research and Development Center for Advanced Energy Materials and Service Safety

Corresponding Authors: PENG Qunjia, E-mail: qunjiapeng@163.com;
QIAO Lijie, E-mail: lqiao@ustb.edu.cn

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	LI Weipeng
	LUO Kunjie
	WANG Huisheng
	CHEN Jiacheng
	HAN Yaolei
	PANG Xiaolu
	PENG Qunjia
	QIAO Lijie

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https://www.jcscp.org/EN/10.11902/1005.4537.2024.319 OR https://www.jcscp.org/EN/Y2025/V45/I4/947

Table 1 Chemical compositions of two 718 nickel-based alloys

Fig.1 Dimensions of tensile test sample (mm)

Fig.2 Microstructures of A (a) and B (b) types of nickel based 718 alloy strips

Fig.3 SEM morphology of A type of 718 alloy strips

Table 2 EDS analysis results of three points marked in Fig.3

Table 3 Mechanical properties of two types of 718 alloy strips

Fig.4 In-situ SEM observation and EDS analysis of A type of 718 alloy strips during SSRT experiment in high-temperature and high-pressure water environment, showing the presence of cracks at different strains (a-c) and compositions of (Nb, Ti)C (d) in Fig.4a2 and TiN (e) in Fig.4a3 precipitation phases

Fig.5 In-situ SEM observation and EDS analysis of B type of 718 alloy strips during SSRT experiment in high-temperature and high-pressure water environment, showing the presence of cracks at different strains (a-c) and compositions of (Nb, Ti)C (d) in Fig.5a2 and TiN (e) in Fig.5a3 precipitation phases

Table 4 Densities and lengths of cracks for two types of 718 alloy strips during SSRT at different strains

Fig.6 Typical fracture morphologies of A type (a) and B type (b) of 718 alloy strips after SSRT experiment in high-temperature and high-pressure water environment

Fig.7 SEM observation and EDS analysis of TiN phase on the surface of B type of 718 alloy strips after 10% strain during SSRT test in nitrogen environment at 320 ℃

Fig.8 SEM observation (a) and EDS analysis (b) of (Nb,Ti)C phase on the surface of B type of 718 alloy strips after 10% strain during SSRT test in nitrogen environment at 320 ℃

Table 5 Characteristic data of cracks for two types of 718 alloy strips

Fig.9 SEM images of (Nb, Ti)C precipitates for fractured strip A (a) and strip B with 10% strain (b)

Fig.10 SEM observation and EDS analysis of (Nb, Ti)C precipitates on the surface of strip B

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