The role of cold work and applied stress on surface oxidation of 304 stainless steel

FIB 3-dimensional (3D) sequential sectioning has been used to characterize environmental degradation of 304 stainless steels in pressurized water reactor (PWR) simulated primary water. In particular, the effects of cold work and applied stress on oxidation have been studied in detail. It was found that a description of the oxidation behaviour of this alloy is only complete if it is treated statistically, since it can suffer from high variability depending on the feature described.

► FIB 3D sequential sectioning is an ideal technique to characterize surface oxidation.
► 3D models of the oxide can be produced with nanometre resolution.
► The effects of stress and cold work in grain boundary oxidation have been analysed.
► At least three different oxidation modes are observed when stress is applied.