CORROSION OF THORIUM AND THORIUM BINARY ALLOYS IN DISTILLED WATER AT 100 AND 200 C

摘要

A study was made of the corrosion behavior of thorium and several of its alloys in distilled water. Unalloyed Ames thorium was found to possess excellent corrosion resistance in boiling distilled water. Thorium alloyed with zirconium was equally resistant. However, additions of aluminum, chromium, lead molybdenum, nickel, niobium, silicon, titanium, or vanadium either lowered or completely destroyed its corrosion resistance. Seither unalloyed thorium nor any of the above alloys were resistant to water at 200 C. Alloys containing titanium or zirconium exhibited less attack than unalloyed thorium, and their corrosion resistance increased as alloy content increased. Raising the test temperature from 100 to 200C increased corrosion rates as much as 1000-fold.