Effect of thermal ageing and dissolved gas on corrosion of 308L stainless steel weld metal in simulated PWR primary water

The corrosion of unaged and 7000-h thermally aged 308 L stainless steel weld metals in simulated PWR primary water under aerated and deaerated conditions was investigated,involving the corrosion of austenite,δ-ferrite andδ-ferrite/austenite phase boundary.The results revealed that thermal ageing for 7000 h had a limited effect on the corrosion behavior of 308 L weld metal as it only increased the inner oxide thickness ofδ-ferrite slightly under the deaerated condition.No obvious corrosion enhancement of 308 L weld metal under the aerated condition was found compared to the deaerated condition regardless of the thermal ageing.Nevertheless,Cr-enrichment on the surface of oxide particles,dissolved regions at the metal/oxide interface and localized corrosion along theδ-ferrite/austenite phase boundary occurred under the aerated condition.