Stability of oxide film formed at different temperatures on Alloy 600 in lithiated environment

The nickel base alloys are susceptible to localized corrosion attack and the major contributing factor in these corrosion mechanisms is the oxide film formed on the alloy. The chromium content in the oxide film determines its stability against localized attack that act as precursors for the initiation of stress corrosion cracking (SCC) in the material. The present study aimed at optimizing the hot conditioning parameter by varying the temperature of oxide formation for minimum ion release rate during reactor operation. The surface and in-depth compositional characterization of oxide film formed on Alloy 600 was carried out using micro-laser Raman spectroscopy (MLRS) and glow discharge quadrapole mass spectroscopy (GDQMS) respectively. The relative defect density of oxide films were studied using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The oxide film stability of Alloy 600 in chloride containing environment was correlated to chromium concentration in the film as well as relative defect density. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.