DISSOLUTION KINETICS OF STEELS EXPOSED IN LEAD-LITHIUM AND LITHIUM ENVIRONMENTS

An analysis of weight loss kinetics was made for type 316 stainless steel and Fe-12Cr-1MoVW steel in thermally convective Pb-17 at.% Li (500-degrees-C) and lithium (600-degrees-C). For both steels, the kinetics are similar in lithium and Pb-17Li if the comparison is made at a temperature where solubility-driven mass transport dominates. At the temperatures of this study, a model based on paralinear reaction kinetics accurately described the weight loss curves for type 316 stainless steel in both liquid metals, while the ferritic steel rapidly achieved weight losses that were linear with time. The differences between the kinetic behavior of the two steels can thus be interpreted in terms of the preferential dissolution reactions and localized attack observed for the austenitic alloy.