Corrosion fatigue of refractory materials in boiling nitric acid

Motooka, Takafumi; Kiuchi, Kiyoshi

Refractory materials such as zirconium, niobium and titanium alloys with excellent corrosion resistance in boiling nitric acid have been selected for use as structural materials of spent fuel reprocessing equipment. The fatigue crack growth rates of these materials were investigated by load control tests as a function of the stress intensity factor range in boiling 3N nitric acid and in air at room temperature. The fracture surfaces were observed by SEM. The fatigue crack growth rates of zirconium and niobium were enhanced in boiling nitric acid compared with those in air at room temperature. Acceleration effect due to corrosion fatigue was not observed in the crack growth of Ti-5Ta alloy. The fracture surfaces of Ti-5Ta alloy showed the ductile striation in both environments. On the other hand, the fracture surfaces of niobium represented the fatigue striation in air and the brittle striation due to corrosion in nitric acid. The fracture surfaces of zirconium in nitric acid showed brittle fracture and the ductile fracture related to stress corrosion cracking.