The stress corrosion crack growth rates of iron and nickel-base austenitic alloys were determined in water in both the subcritical and supercritical regimes using constant extension rate tests and a constant stress intensity factor (K) crack growth rate test. Experiments were performed in the temperature range of 288°C to 550°C, in pure deaerated water and the crack propagation rates obtained with different techniques are compared. The crack propagation rate increased with temperature for all alloys tested in constant extension rate tests. The crack growth rate of cold work Type 316L (UNS S31603) determined under constant K loading mode decreased as temperature increased above 360°C. The crack growth rate behavior is hypothesized to be due to crack blunting due to a high oxidation rate. In CERT tests, increases in cracking are dominated by temperature rather than water density. The validity of the use of constant extension rate tests to determine crack propagation rate is discussed.

Subject
Supercritical water, Crack growth, Water, Corrosion rate, Crack propagation, Fatigue crack growth rate, Stress cracking, Density, Intergranular cracking, Constants, Oxygen, Alloys, Stress corrosion cracking
Keywords:
stress corrosion cracking, supercritical water, crack propagation rate
© 2008 Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of AMPP. Positions and opinions advanced in this work are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AMPP. Responsibility for the content of the work lies solely with the author(s).
2008
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
You do not currently have access to this content.