Synergy of stress and corrosion in a 12Cr ferritic/martensitic steel exposed to static liquid lead-bismuth eutectic at 550 °C

In this work, uniaxial creep tests under 300, 350 and 380 MPa were performed to study the synergy of stress and corrosion in a 12Cr ferritic/martensitic (F/M) steel exposed to static liquid lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) at 550 °C. The results showed that LBE had a strong degradation effect especially under low-oxygen condition, leading to drastic acceleration of creep deformation as compared to that in air. Although oxide scales, such as magnetite, Fe-Cr spinel and chromium oxide, could slow down crack initiation and propagation, this effect is load and oxygen concentration dependent. The overall creep behavior is governed by multiple competing mechanisms.