Oxide Film Characterization after the crack propagation in CT specimens of AISI 304L under Hydrogen Water Chemistry Condition.

Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC) in a general term describing stressed alloy fracture that occurs by crack propagation in specifically environments, and has the appearance of brittle fracture, yet it can occur in ductile materials like AISI 304L used in internal components of Boiling Water Reactors (BWR). The high levels of oxygen and hydrogen peroxide generated during an operational Normal Water Condition (NWC) promotes an Electrochemical Corrosion Potential (ECP), enough to generate SCC in susceptible materials. Changes in water chemistry have been some of the main solutions for mitigate this degradation mechanism, and one of these changes is reducing the ECP by the injection of Hydrogen in the feed water of the reactor; this addition moves the ECP below a threshold value, under which the SCC is mitigated (-230mV vs SHE). This paper shows the characterization by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Raman Spectroscopy of the oxide film formed in to a crack propagated during a Rising Displacement Test method (RDT), on Hydrogen Water Chemistry (HWC) conditions: 20 ppb O 2 , 125 ppb H 2 , P=8MPa, T=288°C, using a CT specimen of austenitic stainless steel AISI 304L sensitized. The characterization allowed identifying the magnetite formation since an incipient way, until very good formed magnetite crystals.