CORROSION OF AUSTENITIC AND MARTENSITIC STAINLESS-STEELS IN FLOWING 17LI-83PB ALLOY

With regard to the behavior of 316 L stainless steel at 400°C in flowing anisothermal 17Li-83Pb the mass transfer suffered by this steel appears to be quite important without noticeable influence of constant or cyclic stress. Evaluation made from solution-annealed specimens leads to a corrosion rate of approximately 30 μm yr-1 at steady state to which a depth of 25μm has to be added to take into account the initial period phenomena. On the other hand, with semi-stagnant 17Li-83Pb at 400°C, the mass transfer of 316 L steel appears to be lower and more acceptable after a 3000-h exposure. As for the martensitic steels their corrosion rate at 450°C in the thermal convection loop TULIP is constant up to 3000 h and five times lower than that observe for 316L steel in the same conditions.