Isolation of the role of radiation-induced segregation in irradiation-assisted stress corrosion cracking of proton-irradiated austenitic stainless steels

The role of radiation-induced segregation (RIS) in irradiation-assisted stress corrosion cracking (IASCC) was studied in order to better understand the underlying mechanisms of IASCC. High-purity 304L (HP-304L), commercial purity 304 (CP-304) and commercial purity 316 (CP-316) stainless steel alloys were irradiated with 3.2 MeV protons at 400°C (HP-304L) and 360°C (CP-304 and CP-316) to doses ranging from 0.1 and 5.0 dpa. Grain boundary chemistry was measured using scanning transmission electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (STEM/EDS) in both unirradiated and irradiated samples. Unirradiated and irradiated samples of the two commercial purity alloys were also strained to failure in an aqueous environment representative of boiling water reactor cores. The cracking susceptibility and RIS in the proton-irradiated CP-304 is very similar to that from the neutron-irradiated samples. The CP-316 alloy did not crack. Radiation-induced segregation, cracking susceptibility, and dislocation loop microstructure developed at the same rate as a function of dose in the CP-304 alloy. To isolate the effects of RIS in IASCC, post-irradiation annealing was utilized. Simulations of post-irradiation annealing of RIS and dislocation loop microstructure show that dislocation loops are removed preferentially over RIS due to the density of vacancies required and kinetic considerations. Experimental anneals were conducted on HP-304L samples irradiated to 1.0 dpa and CP-304 samples irradiated to 1.0 and 2.5 dpa. Post-irradiation anneals were performed at temperatures ranging from 400°C to 650°C for times between 45 minutes and 5 hours. At all temperatures, the hardness and dislocation densities decreased with increasing annealing time much faster than RIS did. Annealing at 600°C for 90 minutes removed virtually all dislocation microstructure while leaving RIS intact. Cracking susceptibility in the CP-304 alloy was mitigated rapidly during post-irradiation annealing, faster than RIS, dislocation loops or hardening. That the cracking susceptibility changed while the grain boundary chromium composition remained essentially unchanged indicates that Cr depletion is not the sole determinator of IASCC susceptibility. For the same reason, the visible dislocation microstructure and radiation-induced hardening are also not the primary mechanism for IASCC. Black dot damage is proposed as a major contributor to IASCC.