Stressed capsules of austenitic and martensitic steels irradiated in SINQ Target-4 in contact with liquid lead–bismuth eutectic

In the MEGAPIE target, the steels used for the proton beam entrance window and other components in the spallation reaction zone suffer not only from the irradiation damage produced by protons and neutrons but also from the corrosion and embrittlement induced by liquid lead–bismuth eutectic (LBE). Although these effects have been separately studied by a number of authors, the synergistic effects of irradiation, LBE corrosion and embrittlement are little understood. This work presents detailed analyses of two stressed capsules made of the austenitic steel EC316LN and the martensitic steel 9Cr2WVTa, which were irradiated in SINQ Target-4 in contact with LBE at calculated temperatures of 315 and 225 °C, respectively. The Electron Probe Microanalysis (EPMA) on the cross-sections of the capsules showed that the stagnant LBE induced only slight corrosion on both capsules and no cracks existed in the wall of the EC316LN capsule. Some cracks were observed in the electron beam weld (EBW) and its vicinity of the 9Cr2WVTa capsule, which can be attributed to the high stress inside the wall, the hardening of the material induced by either welding (without re-tempering) or irradiation, and the effects of LBE embrittlement.