Understanding and Predicting Plutonium Alloys Aging: A Coupled Experimental and Theoretical Approach

Understanding plutonium aging is a real challenge that requires developing very ambitious modeling and experiments. Examples of the different techniques developed and the physical values that can be reached are presented here.

Microstructure of 90° Domains in Ferroelectric Materials studied by XRD

Analogy between the effects of a mechanical and chemical perturbation on the conductivity of passive films

Abstract In order to study the passivity breakdown of a type 316L stainless steel, the electrochemical impedance and surface stresses were measured under straining conditions. The Mott–Schottky analysis, performed at high frequency, appears as very useful method to study, below the apparent yield strength, the effects of a mechanical stress on the capacitance values. The results obtained in sodium chloride media indicate that the semiconducting properties of passive films formed in a tensile stress field reflect a higher vacancies concentration than those formed in a stress-free state, suggesting that the passive film conductivity is increased. It was also shown that the Mott–Schottky plots…

Influence of preoxidation on the corrosion of steels in liquid lead-bismuth eutectic

Abstract Oxidation studies of martensitic/ferritic and austenitic steels have been conducted in static lead bismuth eutectic (LBE). Samples were preoxidized in an air/H2O gas mixture prior to immersion in LBE. Preoxidation films grown on HT-9 at 800°C for 48 h had a bilayer structure, an outer Fe-rich layer, and an inner Cr-rich layer. Glancing angle x-ray diffraction data found that two distinct structures were present in this oxide: Fe1+xCr2−xO4 spinel (cubic, face-centered cubic [fcc]) and (Cr,Fe)2O3 (rhombohedral, corundum). Magnetite formation (Fe3O4) was ruled out. Immersion in LBE resulted in the growth of an Fe-rich film on top of the preoxidation layer. It was concluded that the gr…

Determination of single crystal elastic constants in textured polycrystalline materials: inverse approach coupling x-ray diffraction and self consistent model applied to a copper sample

La diffraction des rayons X couplee a l'utilisation d'un modele polycristallin (modele auto-coherent) est utilisee pour determiner les constantes d'elasticite monocristallines d'un materiau polycristallin texture. En effet, la connaissance du tenseur de rigidite elastique cijkl d'un solide est fondamentale pour les etudes s'attachant a la comprehension des proprietes mecaniques de la matiere (approches theoriques ou experimentales). Si, d'autres techniques permettent de determiner le tenseur d'elasticite d'un materiau (ultrasons par exemple), elles necessitent souvent l'utilisation d'un monocristal. Ceci n'est pas toujours realisable, en particulier pour des alliages de concentrations varia…

Relationships between the Impedance of Oxide Scales on Martensitic and Austenitic Steels and Corrosion Rate in Liquid Lead-Bismuth Eutectic

Abstract The impedance properties (resistance and capacitance) of oxide scales on the martensitic/ferritic steel HT-9 and austenitic stainless steel Type 316L (UNS S31603) were examined during immersion in lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) using a technique similar to electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. These scales were created by preoxidizing the samples in an air/water vapor environment at 800°C for various times prior to immersion in LBE. Calculation of oxide conductivity for samples immersed in LBE at 200°C for 200 h yielded σHT9 ≈ 4 × 10−7 (Ω × cm)−1 while σ316 ≈ 3 × 10−8 (Ω × cm)−1. The influence of temperature alone gave the anticipated Arrhenius behavior with Ea equal to 0.12 eV, whi…