Effect of microstructure of carbon steel on magnetite formation in simulated Hot Conditioning environment of nuclear reactors

The objective of present investigation is to establish the role of starting microstructure of carbon steel on the magnetite formation behaviour in Hot Conditioning simulated environment. Two grades of carbon steel (low and high carbon) were subjected to selective heat-treatments to generate different microstructures: martensite, tempered martensite and modified ferrite-pearlite. Oxidation was carried out in lithiated water of pH 10-10.2 in a static autoclave at 270 °C. The results of the investigation clearly establish that: (a) high carbon steel (0.63% C) showed a relatively higher rate of oxidation over the low carbon (0.08% C) grade at all the test durations and (b) the oxidation rates for both the grades were sensitive to microstructural differences at initial stages of oxidation while the differences narrowed down after 72 h of exposure. The oxide formed was established to be magnetite on all the specimens.