Magnetic field effect on the corrosion processes at the Eurofer–Pb–17Li flow interface

Structural and elemental analyses of the RAFM steel (EUROFER 97) interface with flowing Pb–17Li eutectic (velocity 5 cm/s at 550 °C, 1000 h) under the action of a strong magnetic field (B = 1.7 T) were performed using optical microscopy, SEM, confocal microscopy, precision micro-hardness methods, SIMS and point or line-scan EDX analyses. The results show that the magnetic field induces a faster crushing of martensite into the grains, a deeper dissolution of grain boundaries, an enhancement of the Fe and Cr mass transfer and a fast detachment of corrosion layers due to MHD effects.