Structure of surface oxides on martensitic steel under simultaneous ion irradiation and molten LBE corrosion

Irradiation damage on corrosion process of steels in Pb or LBE melts is a main challenge for the R&D of LFR. In this paper, A martensitic steel (SIMP) was in-situ irradiated with 247 MeV Ar ions while simultaneously exposed to flowing molten LBE to investigate the effect of irradiation on the structure of surface oxides. The results showed that ion irradiation not only accelerated the LBE corrosion, but also modified the structure of surface oxides significantly. Possible mechanism was proposed to help understand the microstructure evolution of oxides under simultaneous irradiation and corrosion. •An in-situ irradiation-corrosion experiment was successfully conducted to study the irradiation effect on LBE corrosion.•Ion irradiation not only enhances the oxidation rate, but also remarkably modifies the microstructure of surface oxides.•The effect of irradiation on the oxidation process was believed to be mostly related to the radiation-enhanced diffusion.