Stress Corrosion Cracking of Inconel Alloy 600 in High Temperature Water—An Update

Abstract

An experimental program on stress corrosion cracking (SCC) aimed at the development of a quantitative model for predicting the behavior of Inconel 600 tubing in high temperature water is currently underway at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). Empirical data are gathered to relate factors that influence SCC. Work involves U-bends, constant extension rate tests (CERT), and constant load. Plots are made of failure time and crack velocity vs temperature, and also of SCC time vs stress, using a variety of environments related to the ingredients of primary or secondary water. Cold work of Alloy 600 is also included. The effect of temperature is found to yield semi-log (Arrhenius) curves, and log-log plots of failure time vs stress are presented. Curves of this type are being evaluated for use in extrapolating accelerated test data to operating conditions for predictive purposes.