Cavitation erosion behavior of CLAM steel weld joint in liquid lead-bismuth eutectic alloy

The cavitation erosion of weld joint and base metal of China low activation martensitic (CLAM) steel in liquid lead-bismuth eutectic alloy (LBE) at 550 °C was investigated to simulate the cavitation erosion of the first wall and the nuclear main pump impeller in the accelerator driven sub-critical system (ADS). A suit of ultrasonic cavitation facility was self-designed to study the cavitation erosion. By studying the surface micro topography, roughness and mean pit depth of the tested specimens, it was found that some crater clusters and large scale cracks appeared on the tested specimen surface after the formation of numerous single craters, and the base metal exhibited much better cavitation erosion resistance than the weld bead due to the difference in their mechanical properties and microstructures. In addition, by comparing the results of static corrosion and cavitation erosion, it could be concluded that the cavitation erosion and the dissolution and oxidation corrosion in liquid LBE would accelerate mutually.