Cracking in stabilized austenitic stainless steel piping of German boiling water reactors—characteristic features and root cause

Cracks have been found in the welds of piping systems made from stabilized austenitic stainless steels in German boiling water reactors (BWR). In the course of the intensive failure analysis metallographic examinations, microstructural investigations by electron microscopy, corrosion experiments and welding tests have been performed. The results show that cracking under the given medium conditions is due to intergranular stress corrosion cracking (IGSCC) in those parts of the heat affected zone (HAZ) which are overheated during welding and where solution of titanium carbides and subsequent precipitation of chromium carbides and depletion of chromium along the affected grain boundaries could occur.