Corrosion–erosion test of SS316L grain boundary engineering material (GBEM) in lead bismuth flowing loop

To evaluate the lifetime of structural materials utilized in a spallation neutron source, corrosion tests in lead–bismuth eutectic (LBE) have been done at JAEA. Austenitic steels are preferable as the structural material for ADS. However, previous studies have revealed that austenitic steel SS316 shows severe corrosion–erosion in LBE because of LBE penetration through grain boundaries and separation of grains. So it was considered that GBE (grain-boundary engineered) materials may be effective to improve the corrosion resistance of austenitic steels in LBE. In this study, the results of corrosion tests on austenitic steel SS316L-BM (base metal) and SS316L-GBEM (grain-boundary-engineered material) under flowing LBE conditions will be reported. The corrosion test was performed using the JAEA lead–bismuth material corrosion loop (JLBL-1). The experimental conditions were as follows: The high and low temperature parts of the loop were 450 °C and 350 °C, respectively. The flow velocity at the test specimens was about 0.7 m/s. The oxygen concentration in LBE was not controlled and was estimated to have been very low. After the 3600 h of operation, macroscopic, SEM, and SIM observations and EDX analysis were carried out. The results showed that the corrosion depth and LBE penetration through the grain boundaries of the 316SS-GBEM were smaller than those of the 316SS-BM.