Hardness and stability of a carburized surface layer on AISI 316L stainless steel after irradiation in a spallation neutron environment

Abstract The inner surfaces of mercury target vessels at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) experience material erosion caused by proton-beam induced cavitation of the liquid mercury. One approach developed and deployed to inhibit erosion of the target vessel material was surface hardening via a proprietary low-temperature carburization treatment, called Kolsterising®, to the target surfaces most susceptible to cavitation-induced erosion. Previous testing has shown that the hardened surface produced by the Kolsterising® treatment can delay the onset of erosion and inhibit erosion once initiated. But the stability of the carbon atmosphere in the treated surface layer after radiation to doses prototypic to the SNS target was unknown. Therefore, as part of the target Post Irradiation Examination program at the SNS, optical microscopy and microhardness testing were performed on material sampled from the first and second operational SNS target vessels. Optical micrographs contained no noticeable precipitation in the super-saturated carbon layer extending into the base material and several micrographs contained evidence of a proposed mechanism for mass wastage from the vessel surface. The hardened layer was characterized using Vickers microhardness testing and results show that the shape of hardness profile of the treated layer corresponded well with known pre-irradiation hardness values, though the microhardness results show some hardening occurred during irradiation. The results suggest that the hardened surface layer produced by the Kolsterising® treatment is stable at the operational temperatures and dose levels experienced by the first and second operational SNS target modules.