Corrosion experiments in flowing LBE at 450 °C

The corrosion behaviour of AISI 316L steel is being investigated in flowing lead–bismuth eutectic (LBE) at 450 °C. The tests are performed in the LECOR (lead corrosion) loop, at low oxygen activity in LBE. The preliminary results presented in this paper refer to AISI 316L stainless steel and show the start of a corrosion mechanism with a small transfer of Cr from the inner part of the steel matrix to the outer one. This paper reports only preliminary results, obtained after 1000 h of test.