Long-term initiation time for stress -corrosion cracking of alloy 600 with implications in stainless steel: Review and analysis for nuclear application

This paper provides a summary and analysis on the initiation of stress -corrosion cracking (SCC) of Alloy 600 (and related alloys) and stainless steels in nuclear reactor environments near 300 °C. Two processes seem to be comparable between traditional slip dissolution/oxidation mechanisms and aging-related crystalline ordering. This paper evaluates various supporting topics, including SCC initiation time, activation energy, stress/strain rate/plastic deformation, electrode potential drop, rate-limiting step, long-term threshold values, and data uncertainties. The understanding of Alloy 600 SCC is extended to stainless steels. SCC mechanisms of nickel-based alloys and stainless steels at lower temperatures are different from nickel-based alloys at higher temperatures. Finally, this paper describes how this work would be potentially considered in the nuclear industry.