Effect of Grain Boundary Microchemistry on IGSCC of Alloy 132 in a Simulated BWR Environment

The effects of cold working and heat treatment on caustic stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of mill annealed (MA) alloy 800M in boiling solution of 50%NaOH+0.3%SiO2+0.3%Na2S2O3 were investigated by means of microstructure examination, tensile test, X-ray stress analysis, SCC testing of C-rings, Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and metallography. The microstructure of alloy 800M under tested conditions was austenite. With a strain of 25% by cold working, the grains of alloy 800M became longer, yield strength (YS) and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) increased, elongation (δ ) decreased, residual stress and the susceptibility to SCC increased. With increasing temperature of heat treatment of alloy 800M with cold working, the grains became bigger , residual stress, YS and UTS decreased and δ increased, the susceptibility to SCC of alloy 800M decreased. In boiling caustic solution, SCC cracks on the surfaces of C-ring specimens polarized potentiostatically at –20mV/SCE initiated from pitting and propagated along grain boundaries. AES analysis indicated that the surface films on MA alloy 800M were enriched in nickel and depleted in iron and chromium.