Localized Deformation as a Primary Cause of Irradiation Assisted Stress Corrosion Cracking

The objective of this project is to determine whether deformation mode is a primary factor in the mechanism of irradiation assisted intergranular stress corrosion cracking of austenitic alloys in light water reactor core components. Deformation mode will be controlled by both the stacking fault energy of the alloy and the degree of irradiation. In order to establish that localized deformation is a major factor in IASCC, the stacking fault energies of the alloys selected for study must be measured. Second, it is completely unknown how dose and SFE trade-off in terms of promoting localized deformation. Finally, it must be established that it is the localized deformation, and not some other factor that drives IASCC