Mass-Transport and Corrosion of Iron-Based Alloys in Liquid Metals

The application of mass-transport equations to the corrosion of metals by liquid metals is discussed. Calculated corrosion rates are compared with experimentally determined rates. It is concluded that diffusion controlled solution attack, although significant, may not under conditions of interest to reactor engineers be as serious as either inter-granular attack or chemically assisted mass-transport. The mechanism of inter-granular attack, the thermodynamics of an example of chemically assisted mass-transport, the role of oxygen in sodium-stainless steel circuits and methods of reducing mass-transport of iron are discussed.