Creep in sodium

Available information on the creep of austenitic, ferritic and Alloy-800 type steels in liquid sodium is critically reviewed. Creep properties of stainless steels can be affected by element transfer and corrosion. At reactor structural component temperatures environmental effects are likely to be less important than changes due to thermal ageing. At high clad temperatures (7000C) decarburisation may cause the loss of strength and ductility in unstabilised steels while cavity formation may cause embrittlement in stabilised steels. The properties of Alloy 800 are, in some experiments, found to deteriorate while in others they are enhanced. This may be a consequence of the metallurgical complexity of the material or arise from the nature of the various techniques employed. Low alloy ferritic steels tend to decarburise in sodium at temperatures greater than 5000C and this leads to loss of strength and an increase in ductility. High alloy ferritics are immune to this effect and appear to be able to tolerate a degree of carburisation. Although intergranular cracking may be enhanced in liquid sodium the mechanical consequences are not significant and evidence for the existence of an embrittlement effect not associated with element transfer or corrosion is weak. Stress and strain may enhance element transfer at crack tips. However in real cracks the gettering or supply action of the crack faces conditions the chemistry of the cracks in sodium and protects the crack tip from element transfer. Thus creep crack extension rates should be independent of changes in bulk coolant chemistry. (author)