The safe and reliable operation of pressurized water reactors (PWRs) depends on the integrity of structural material. In particular, the failure of steam generator (SG) tubes on the secondary side is one of the major concerns of operating nuclear power plants. To establish remediation techniques and manage damage, it is necessary to articulate the mechanism through which various impurities affect the SG tubes. This research aims to understand the effect of impurities (e.g., S, Pb, and Cl) on the stress corrosion cracking of Alloy 600 and 690.
This study was carried out to evaluate the aspect of microstructure and mechanical property development on additive manufactured pure Ti at elevated heat-input. For this work, pure Ti powder (commercial purity, grade 1) was selected, and selective laser melting was conducted from 0.5 to 1.4 J/mm. As a result, increase in heat-input led to the significant grain growth form 4 μm to 12 μm, accompanying with the change of grain shape, correctly widmanstätten structured grains. In addition, Vickers microhardness was notably increased from 228 Hv to 358 Hv in accordance with elevated heat-input, which was attributed to the increased concentration of oxygen and nitrogen mainly occurred during selected laser melting process.