Transmission electron microscopy study of complex oxide scales on DIN 1.4970 steel exposed to liquid Pb-Bi eutectic

摘要

The deployment of Gen-IV lead-cooled fast reactors requires a good compatibility between the selected structural/cladding steels and the inherently corrosive heavy liquid metal coolant. An effective liquid metal corrosion mitigation strategy involves the in-situ steel passivation in contact with the oxygen-containing Pb-alloy coolant. Transmission electron microscopy was used in this work to study the multi-layered oxide scales forming on an austenitic stainless steel fuel cladding exposed to oxygen-containing (C-O approximate to 10(-6) mass%) static liquid lead bismuth eutectic (LBE) for 1000 h between 400 and 500 degrees C. The oxide scale constituents were analyzed, including the intertwined phases comprising the innermost biphasic layer.