Corrosion study of an austenitic steel in Pb–17Li under magnetic field and rotating flow

The liquid alloy Pb–17Li has been proposed as breeder material in the water-cooled blankets for fusion reactors. During operation, structural materials such as austenitic and martensitic steels exposed to Pb–17Li are subject to corrosion. The strong magnetic fields anticipated in fusion reactors may have a significant influence on the corrosion processes. This paper reports corrosion data from tests carried out in liquid Pb–17Li at 480 °C up to 350 h without and applying a 0.2 T magnetic field. The flow of Pb–17Li was simulated using a specific device with a rotating disk constituting the 316 L austenitic steel specimen. After the tests, a ferritic corrosion layer at the surface of all the specimens has been observed. The thickness of the layer depends on the hydrodynamic of the flow, which is modified by the magnetic field. An explanation of the effect of a magnetic field is being offered.