Evaluation of the Factor of Improvement for the Intergranular Stress Corrosion Cracking Life of Sensitized Stainless Alloys in High-Temperature, High-Purity Water Environment

Abstract

For the purpose of establishing a quantitative evaluation method for the lifetime of sensitized stainless alloys which may experience the intergranular stress corrosion cracking, laboratory accelerated tests were carried out in a high-temperature, high-purity water environment. The probability distribution of the lifetime obtained was approximated by an exponential distribution. Various acceleration factors were discussed in terms of distribution parameters. Based on these studies, the method of evaluating the factor of improvement was proposed and applied for the estimation of the lifetime of alternate materials with respect to that of the reference material.