Viscosities of molten BC-stainless steel alloys

Nishi, Tsuyoshi*; Sato, Rika*; Ota, Hiromichi*; Kokubo, Hiroki*; Yamano, Hidemasa   

Determining high precision viscosities of molten BC-stainless steel (BC-SS) alloys is essential for the core disruptive accident analyses of sodium-cooled fast reactors and for analysis of severe accidents in boiling water reactors (BWR) as appeared in Fukushima Daiichi. However, there are no data on the high precision viscosities of molten BC-SS alloys due to experimental difficulties. In this study, the viscosities of molten SS (Type 316L), 2.5mass%BC-SS, 5.0mass%BC-SS, and 7.0mass%BC-SS alloys were measured using the oscillating crucible method in temperature ranges of 1693-1793 K, 1613-1793 K, 1613-1793 K, and 1713-1793 K, respectively. The viscosity was observed to increase as the BC concentration increased from 0 to 7.0 mass%. Using the experimental data of the molten 2.5mass%BC-SS and 5.0mass%BC-SS and 7.0mass%BC-SS in the temperature range of 1713-1793 K, the equation for the viscosity of molten BC-SS alloys was determined, and the measurement error of the viscosity of molten BC-SS alloys is less than 8%.