Effects of local radiolysis and geometric parameters on intergranular attack caused by crevice corrosion

Effects of γ-ray irradiation upon crevice corrosion (CC) of type 316L stainless steel (316L SS) as an initiation site of stress corrosion cracking in a boiling water reactor environment have been studied using a material corrosion test loop which could be irradiated with a 60Co γ-ray source during testing. The CC tests were conducted using crevice specimens with various sizes of crevice gaps. Many of the examined specimen surfaces exhibited a selective grain boundary dissolution; that is, intergranular attack (IGA) as a result of the CC when the crevice gap size was lower than a certain value. The IGA initiation time was shortened by the γ-ray irradiation. The IGA occurred mostly near the crevice mouth at a distance of less than 2 mm from the mouth edge. When γ-ray exposure had occurred, it was found that the number of IGA sites deeper in the crevice increased compared with the IGA site distribution under the no-irradiation condition. Since the electrochemical corrosion potential inside crevice specimens ...