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Wetting by liquid sodium and fracture path analysis of sodium induced embrittlement of 304L stainless steel

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 November 2017

Bassem Barkia ,
Thierry Auger ,
Jean-Louis Courouau  and
Julie Bourgon
Bassem Barkia
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Mécanique des Sols, Structures et Matériaux, CentraleSupélec, UMR CNRS 8579, Université Paris-Saclay, Chatenay-Malabry 92295, France
Thierry Auger*
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Mécanique des Sols, Structures et Matériaux, CentraleSupélec, UMR CNRS 8579, Université Paris-Saclay, Chatenay-Malabry 92295, France; and Laboratoire PIMM, ENSAM–CNRS–CNAM, UMR CNRS 8006, Paris 75013, France
Jean-Louis Courouau
Affiliation:
Den-Service de La Corrosion et du Comportement des Matériaux dans Leur Environnement (SCCME), CEA-Saclay, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette F-91191, France
Julie Bourgon
Affiliation:
Institut de Chimie et des Matériaux Paris-Est, UMR 7182, CNRS/UPEC, Thiais 94320, France
*
a)Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: thierry.auger@ensam.eu
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Abstract

The wettability of the 304L steel is an important parameter in Liquid Metal Embrittlement studies. Empirically, it is found to be greatly enhanced by pre-exposure to oxygenated liquid sodium. The corrosion interface formed during exposure to sodium has been analyzed at the nanoscale by transmission electron microscopy using the focused ion beam sampling. A thin layer of sodium chromite (NaxCrO2 with x ≤ 1) is detected at the interface validating wetting on an oxide mechanism for the enhanced wetting after pre-exposure. Fracture micromechanisms and the crack path of liquid sodium-embrittled austenitic steel 304L at 573 K have been investigated down to the nanoscale. High-resolution orientation mapping analyses immediately below the fracture surface show that abundant martensitic transformations (γ → α) and twinning occur during deformation of austenite. The preferential crack path is intergranular along the newly formed γ/γ interfaces. It is concluded that these transformations play a major role in the fracture process.

Keywords

phase transformationgrain boundariesembrittlement
Type
Invited Paper
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 33 , Issue 2 , 29 January 2018 , pp. 121 - 129
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Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2017 

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Footnotes

Contributing Editor: Jürgen Eckert

References

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