Primary water stress corrosion cracking behavior of an Alloy 600/182 weld

Primary water stress corrosion cracking (PWSCC) testing of an Alloy 600/182 weld was conducted at 325 °C for 20,725 h in a simulated primary water environment of a pressurized water reactor. Intergranular cracking occurred only in the regions of Alloy 182 weld metal, which suggests that Alloy 182 weld metal is more susceptible to PWSCC than Alloy 600 base metal. The difference in the susceptibility of the alloys to PWSCC can be attributed to their different metallurgical characteristics, such as the yield strength, precipitation of intergranular chromium carbides, and grain boundary properties of the alloys.