摘要
The effects of irradiation on the stress corrosion cracking are examined through C-ring stress corrosion tests on thermally-sensitized and sensitized plus irradiated 304 stainless steels using the electrochemical noise technique. All of the C-ring specimens were bolt-loaded to 30 MPa√m and subjected to an environment of high purity, oxygen-saturated water at 288°C. During testing the current signal remained unchanged on the thermally-sensitized 304SS, whereas the current signal of the irradiated specimen steadily increased. The increased current was attributed to the advancement of intergranular stress corrosion cracks which was subsequently verified with scanning electron microscopy. The field emission gun - scanning transmission electron microscopic measurements and radiation-induced segregation model calculations were also carried out in an attempt to correlate grain boundary composition with IASCC resistance. It appears that the pre-existing chromium depletion profiles were not significantly altered by proton irradiation below 0.1 dpa. The increased IASCC susceptibility was probably due to irradiation hardening. © 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.