Assessment of XM-19 as a Substitute for AISI 348 in ATR Service

Radiation-induced precipitation with concurrent bubbles formation in an austenitic stainless steel (AISI-348)

“…Austenitic stainless steels have been widely applied in both nuclear and conventional electric power generation plants as well as in chemical and petroleum industries due to mainly their favourable corrosion resistances at high temperatures and suitable mechanical properties [1][2][3][4][5][6]. In particular, the exposure of the γ-Fe phase in extreme environments of nuclear reactors contributes to the degradation of several properties as energetic particle irradiation modifies the crystal structure by displacing atoms from their lattice positions.…”

“…This steel has particular relevance to the nuclear field as the addition of Nb and Ta improves its corrosion resistance at high temperatures by removing C from solid solution during synthesis and processing [2,3]. The AISI-348 also lacks of irradiation data in scientific literature according to Garner et al [6]. Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) technique showed that the bulk alloy has Fe-17.50Cr-9.47Ni-1.81Mn-0.32Nb-0.037C-0.001S-0.002P-0.001Co-0.008B-0.003Ta (%wt.)…”