NSUF 25-5381: Investigating the out-of-plane IASCC propagation in neutron-irradiated 316L stainless steel made by laser powder bed fusion

The first-of-its-kind irradiation-assisted stress corrosion crack (IASCC) growth experiment of neutron-irradiated 316L stainless steel (SS) made by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) additive manufacturing (AM) has been completed through a NSUF funded multi-year effort. The project supported GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy to understand the potential risks of AM 316L SS in light water reactor environments. One surprising finding was the out-of-plane crack growth in the LPBF 316L SS that has been through hot isostatic pressing (HIP) and solution annealing (SA). A strong tendency towards out-of-plane crack growth has never been observed in fully solutioned-annealed LPBF 316L SS. Such event could lead to the anisotropic cracking behavior and uncertainty in inspection and failure prediction. This NSUF RTE proposal seeks to perform synchrotron X-ray characterization on the tested CT specimen utilizing the newly established APS-AML partnership and obtain grain statistics along the crack path using the grain-resolving high-energy x-ray diffraction microscopy (HEDM). By quantifying the percentage of elongated coarse grain, texture, and the grain boundary type along the crack path, the study will directly inform if grain and grain boundary structures in the tested sample are connected to the out-of-plane crack propagation.

Additional Info

Field	Value
Awarded Institution	Purdue University
DOI	10.46936/NSUF/60015731
Embargo End Date	2027-10-27
Facility Tech Lead	Noé Morales, Wei-Ying Chen
NSUF Call	FY 2025 RTE 2nd Call
PI	Xiaoyuan Lou
PI Email	[email protected]
PI Phone Number	765-496-2327
PIE Facilities	Activated Materials Laboratory-Advanced Photon Source (1-ID, 20-ID beamlines)
Prep Facilities	Hot Fuel Examination Facility
Project Member	Dr. Xiaoyuan Lou, Associate Professor - Purdue University (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2211-0959)
Project Type	RTE
Sample Identifiers	10287,10292