A comparative study on the compatibility of liquid lead–gold eutectic and liquid lead–bismuth eutectic with T91 and SS 316LN steels

Liquid lead–gold eutectic (LGE) is considered as a potential target material for high power spallation sources. In the present work, the corrosion effects of LGE on T91 and SS 316LN steels have been investigated in comparison with that of liquid lead–bismuth eutectic (LBE) under the same testing conditions. Two tests were conducted at 400 °C for 1800 h and at 450 °C for 1300 h, in which specimens of the two steels were exposed to 1 m/s flowing LGE and LBE. Surface inspections showed that the specimens underwent a mixed corrosion mode of dissolution and oxidation. The results obtained from the SS 316LN specimens are very interesting. Firstly, EDX (electron energy dispersion X-ray spectrometry) analyses revealed that Ni, Cr and Mn have a higher dissolution rate in LGE than in LBE. Secondly, it was observed that LBE attacked strongly on grain-boundaries (GBs) and twin-boundaries (TBs), while LGE did not preferentially attack GBs and TBs. Further, the diffusion or penetration paths of LBE look straight, while those of LGE look like a complex network. In the attacked regions the chemical composition of the steel did not change much in the LBE case, but changed greatly in the LGE case. The T91 specimens exhibited considerably weaker corrosion effects under the present testing conditions.