Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on

Environmental Degradation of Materials in Nuclear Power System Water Reactors

Edited by T.R. Allen, P.J. King, and L. Nelson TMS (The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society), 2005

Evaluation of SCC Crack Growth Rate in Alloy 600 and

Its Weld Metals in Simulated BWR Environments
Masayoshi Ozawa1, Yutaka Yamamoto1, Kiyotomo Nakata1,
Mikiro Itow2, Norihiko Tanaka2, Masaaki Kikuchi2,
Masato Koshiishi3 and Jiro Kuniya3
1

Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization (JNES), 3-17-1 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 105-0001, Japan
2
Toshiba Corporation, 8 Shinsugita-cho, Isogo-ku, Yokohama, 235-8523, Japan
3
Hitachi Ltd., 7-1-1, Omika-cho, Hitachi-shi, Ibaraki-ken, 319-1292, Japan
Keywords: nickel-based alloy, stress corrosion cracking, crack growth rate, BWR

Abstract
Introduction
SCC growth tests has been carried out on Alloy 182,
DNiCrFe-1J (JIS, denoted as DNCF-1J), Alloy 82 and Alloy 600
(HAZ). Alloy 600 plates were welded under constrained
conditions by shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) with Alloy
182 and DNCF-1J electrodes. The chemical composition of
materials, welding conditions and post weld heat treatments
(PWHT) were chosen based on the fabrication condition of the
plants.
The tests were conducted in an autoclave equipped with
a re-circulating loop at 288C. The crack length was monitored
by the reversing DC Potential Drop Method (PDM).
Interdendritic (ID) and intergranular (IG) pre-cracking by gentle
cyclic loading was induced in the NWC before the SCC growth
test under a constant load. The tests were continued for about
6000 h, at a stress intensity factor K of between 15 and 50 MPam0.5. Crack growth rates (CGRs) were determined over a longer
testing time to ensure the precision of PDM. The results were
analyzed in terms of the materials, test conditions and change in
crack shape with the advance of cracks, to clarify the
characteristics of SCC growth behavior of test materials.
All SCC cracks showed interdendritic and intergranular
morphology. The CGRs in weld metals in NWC were slightly
higher than the CGRs in HWC (1). The CGRs in HWC (1) and
HWC (2) were dependent on the value of K. The CGRs at a K of
between 15 and 40 MPa-m0.5 in HWC (1) were about ten times
higher than those in HWC (2).
The CGRs in HAZ, Alloy 600, in NWC were almost the
same as the CGR in HWC (1). The CGRs in HWC (1) and HWC
(2) were shown to depend on K. The CGRs at a K of between 20
and 40 MPa-m0.5 in HWC (1) were about fifty times those for
HWC (2).
The CGRs in the Alloy 182 were almost the same as for
DNCF-1J under all conditions. The CGRs in modified Alloy 182
and modified DNCF-1J were almost the same or higher than the
original alloys.
The CGRs of Alloy 82 in NWC were
approximately 1/5 to 1/100 times lower than the CGRs of Alloy
182.
Under the conditions used in this study, it was found
that the SKIF curve for Alloy 182 was too conservative and that
some risks were associated with the TENPES curve for low K.

Ni-based alloys are widely used in pressure boundary

components of reactor pressure vessels in BWRs and PWRs,
including nozzle safe ends and control rod drive (CRD) stub tube
joints. Recently, stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of Ni-based
weld metals have been reported in several plants [1-3]. Since
2000, Japan has had two SCC experiences in nickel-based alloys
in BWR plants; one was a CRD stub tube and the other was a
Shroud support. If the crack growth rates were well known, SCC
crack propagation could be predicted to evaluate the integrity.
However, the value of CGR is highly dependent on test conditions
and the alloys microstructure. Since then, many studies on SCC
in these materials have been conducted and the effects of different
factors on the SCC have been clarified [4-9].
JNES is carrying out a project, Evaluation Technology
for Stress Corrosion Crack Growth of Ni Base Alloys (NiSCC,
2000-2005), to design Crack growth rate (CGR) against stress
intensity factor (K) curves in nickel-based alloys that construct
nozzles, core internals, etc. in BWR and PWR. The CGR curves
require high quality data in order to provide the evaluation of
integrity of the components that can be used efficiently with high
confidence. Test conditions of NiSCC project were decided in
consideration of the above mentioned reports [4-8] etc.
In this paper, the CGRs in nickel-based alloys in a BWR
environment obtained by the NiSCC project were evaluated in
terms of K and the environment (ECP). The CGRs were
compared with CGR vs. K curves proposed by SKIFS (1996) [10]
and JSME S NA1-2004 (2004) [11].

Experimental Procedure
The flow diagram for the experimental procedure of this
study is shown in Fig. 1. The details are as follows.
Materials
Alloy 600 plates 70 mm thick were welded under a
constrained conditions using shielded metal arc welding (SMAW)
with Alloy 182 and D-NiCrFe-1J (JIS) (DNCF-1J) electrodes.
651

Pre-cracking in air using Fatigue (ASTM E647)

Table I. Chemical composition of materials

Adjust water chemistry

Conductibity<0.1 mS/cm, DO>20ppm at 288 C

Pre-cracking in high temperature water under

gentle cyclic load

Fe

Ti

Nb

Alloy 182

0.04 0.44 6.59 0.014 0.014 14.3

8.2

0.21

1.76

Modified 182

0.03 0.40 6.40 0.003 0.003 15.4

6.9

0.04

3.90

DNCF-1J

Crack propagation on PDM;

> 0.5mm
Yes

crack propagation
detectable on PDM
or
Test time > 6000 h

No

Mn

Cr

1.86

0.03 0.24 2.20 0.003 0.003 14.3

0.05

3.73

Alloy 82

0.04 0.10 3.40 0.004 0.002 20.1 1.67 0.45

2.73

9.8

Alloy 600

0.07 0.34 0.38 0.008 0.001 15.24 9.29

Modified 600 (low Nb)

0.03 0.28 0.37 0.011 0.001 16.40 7.64

1.87

Modified 600 (high Nb)

0.01 0.21 0.21 0.006 0.000 16.33 6.61

2.51

70 mm

100h

Si

0.04 0.23 2.37 0.002 0.003 14.26 9.15 0.04

Modified DNCF-1J

Adjust conditions of constant load

and water chemistry

Chemical composition (wt%)

Materials

Activation operation to
crack (Trapezoidal
mode loading)

(a) base metal HAZ

Yes

(b) weld metal

Fig.
2 Sampling position of 1TCT specimen in welds of Nibased alloy.
crack propagation>3
(: Dispersion in PDM)
and stable crack growth

recirculation loop. During the test, the water in the autoclave was
refreshed two to three times in one hour with pure water.
The water chemistry was controlled by ECP. A normal
water chemistry (NWC, ECP; +160 to +190 mVSHE), a hydrogen
water chemistry (1) (HWC (1), ECP; 0 to -90 mVSHE), HWC (1)
(ECP; -110 to -80 mVSHE) and HWC (2) (ECP; -480 to -380
mVSHE) were used. The ECP was controlled by dissolved oxygen
and hydrogen. The conductivity of inlet water was kept to less
than 0.1 S/cm and the conductivity of outlet water was kept to
less than 0.2 S/cm during the test. The concentration of SO42- in
the water was controlled to be 5 ppb. The concentrations of Cland NO3- were both less than 3 ppb.

Finish crack growth test

Evaluate CGR

Figure1. Flow diagram for experimental procedure

The chemical compositions of Alloy 600 and the weld filler
metals are shown in Table I. The welding conditions and post
weld heat-treatments (PWHTs) were chosen based on the
construction specifications of the nuclear power plants. The weld
heat inputs of SMAW for Alloy 182 and DNCF-1J were 8.3-10.6
kJ/cm and 11.3-16.9 kJ/cm, respectively. The PWHT conditions
of SMAW with Alloy 182 and DNiCrFe-1J were 615C for 10 h
with air cooling and 625C for 24 h with furnace cooling.

Pre-cracking in an NWC environment

Prior to the constant load SCC growth tests,
interdendritic (ID) or intergranular (IG) pre-crack was introduced
by the gentle cyclic loading technique in NWC of 288C at
approximately 8.8 MPa in the autoclave. The loading condition
was triangular mode at frequencies of 0.01 Hz and load ratio of
0.9 that was decided by preliminary examination [12, 13].

Test specimens
1TCT specimens with side grooves were machined from
the weld joints. A notch was made, as shown in Fig. 2, so that the
SCC in weld metal was propagated parallel to the weld dendrite
direction and the SCC in the heat affected zone was propagated
parallel to the fusion line. Prior to the tests in high temperature
water, a fatigue pre-crack with a length of about 3 mm was
induced in the specimen by cyclic loading at room temperature in
air. The Kmax values of the pre-cracks were adjusted to 0.8 times
the target K values of the following SCC growth tests in high
temperature water.

SCC growth tests

The tests were carried out at an initial stress intensity
factor, K, from 13.5 to 30 MPa-m0.5.
The crack length was monitored by means of the reversing DC
Potential Drop Method (PDM). The tests were done at 288C and
approximately 8.8 MPa. During the test, corrosion potential of a
coupon made of the test material were measured using internal or
external reference of Ag/AgCl electrodes. The coupon was
located adjacent to the CT specimen.
The tests were continued until a crack length of over
three times the dispersion of the PDM data was generated. The
test therefore required a long time, up to 6000 h (If the PDM
showed a dispersion of 10 m, a test for a CGR showing 2 10-12

Water chemistry
SCC growth tests were carried out at 288C and
approximately 8.8 MPa in an autoclave equipped with a
652

27

Determination of the CGRs

Alloy 182

Gentle
cycle load

Crack length (mm)

After the tests, the fracture surfaces were observed

with an optical scanning electron microscope (SEM). Crack
26.5
lengths were determined by observing the crack surface. The
PDM results were corrected by the average crack lengths, which
-12
CGR:6.0X10 m/s
were obtained by dividing the area of the SCC by the specimen
thickness. CGRmean was derived from the average crack lengths,
and the maximum CGR (CGRmax) was derived from the
26
maximum crack lengths respectively. The PDM results were
corrected by the average crack length.
1/2
Initial K: 19 MPa m
A typical PDM result for Alloy 182 with an initial K
of 19 MPa-m0.5 in HWC (2) for approximately 6000 h is shown
HWC(2)(ECP: -370 - -420 mVSHE)
in Fig. 3, with the crack length corrected based on observation
25.5
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000 of the crack surface. Gentle cyclic loading was applied for
approximately 850 h, and the crack length increased from 25.7
Time (h)
mm to 26.4 mm. The CGR became low and reached a stable
Figure3. Crack propagation of Alloy 182 in HWC(The crack
value, adjusting for water chemistry and constant loading. All
length was determined from the PDM results corrected
the PDM results showed the same trend. There were some
for the observations in the crack surface after the test.).
transient steps that were thought crack expansion, like the PDM
result in Fig.9 at 1400h. The CGRs were determined from the
m/s would require the testing time of 4000 h or more at constant
slope of the stabilized PDM result expect the transient steps.
loading.).
Crack activation was applied when the crack length for
Results and Discussion
the constant loading test time of 500 h or more was less than three
times the standard deviation of the PDM data. The activation
Features of the fracture surface
conditions were a trapezoidal mode, a rising time of 50s, an R of
0.7, and a holding time of 5000s.
Typical SEM images of crack surface in Alloy 182 at an

Constant load

(R=0.9,
F=0.01Hz)

EAC
 P

(a) Crack tip

Fatigue
pre-crack
in air

AECL00A

1mm

 P

(b) Middle of crack

Figure4. SEM image of a crack in Alloy 182 tested in HWC (2) for 6000 h at K=20 MPa m0.5

653

edges, which were of approximately 1 to 2 mm. However, the

lengths of these cracks varied, as did their ratios to the maximum
crack length, and had an average crack length of about 1-2 mm.
For SMAW weld metal and HAZ, Alloy 600, almost all of the
fractographs showed this morphology.
CGR in Alloy 182 and DNCF-1J
In this study, two specimens under the same conditions
were tested at the same loading axis. Typical PDM results,
corrected in Alloy 182 at an initial K of 15 MPa-m0.5 in HWC (1)
for approximately 2800 h under the same conditions are shown in
Fig. 7. When gentle cyclic loading was applied for approximately
650 h, the crack lengths increased, from about 23.9 mm to 24.9
mm in one case and 23.5 mm to 24.9 mm in the other. The two
specimens showed almost equal amounts of crack advance and
CGR, as shown in Fig. 3, except in special cases. It is therefore
thought that the data given by this experiment was accurate.
Fig. 8 shows a comparison between the CGRmean and the
CGRmax of SMAW weld metals. The CGRs increased with K in
NWC and HWC (1). CGRmax was at most two times as high as
CGRmean in SMAW weld metals. Fig. 9 shows the relationship
between the CGRmax and CGRmean and crack length (including
crack propagation by gentle cyclic loading). The CGRmax and
CGRmean decreased as the SCC increased. The CGR ratios
calculated from the average and maximum crack lengths were less
than 2 in specimens with cracks of more than about 1 mm.
ECP dependency of CGR in Alloy 182 is shown in
Fig.10.
The CGR decreased as the ECP decreased. K
dependences of CGR showed the same slope under HWC(1) and
HWC(2). The CGRs under ECP of +200mVSHE were about two
to three times higher than the CGRs under -100mVSHE. Jenssen
et al. reported that the change in CGRs was low between -200 and
+100 mVSHE [8]. The results of this study also showed this
tendency. And, the results of DNCF-1J also showed the same
tendency.

Figure5. Fracture surface of Alloy 600

(HWC (2), K=36 MPa m1/2)
initial K of 19 MPa-m0.5 in HWC (2), ECP of -420 to -370 mVSHE
for approximately 6000 h are shown in Fig. 4. All SCC cracks in
this study were interdendritic. Fig. 3 shows an area of crack
propagation corresponding to a crack length of 25.7 to 26.4 mm
propagated in NWC and a crack length of 26.4 to 26.5 mm
propagated in HWC (2). A crack tip area propagated in HWC (2)
and the middle of a crack propagated in NWC with gentle cyclic
loading were found. Both these cracks showed an interdendritic
morphology. Fig. 5 shows a typical SEM image of a crack
surface in HAZ, Alloy 600, at a K of 36 MPa-m0.5 in HWC (2), at
an ECP of -420 to -370 mVSHE. These cracks showed an
intergranular morphology.
Fig. 6 shows a typical fracture surface after the test in
DNCF-1J at an initial K of 38.6 MPa-m0.5 in NWC, and an ECP
of 130 to 140 mVSHE for approximately 1400 h. The propagation
of the crack was nearly uniform in the direction of thickness of the
specimen, except for the ligaments which were located at the

CGR in Alloy 600

The relationship between K (and ECP) and CGR in an
HAZ, Alloy 600, is shown in Fig. 11. The CGR increased with K
in NWC, HWC (1) and HWC (2). The CGRs in HWC (1) and
HWC (2) showed a small correlation with K. The CGRs at a K of
between 20 and 40 MPa-m0.5 in HWC (1) were about fifty times
higher than the CGR values in HWC (2). The CGRs in HAZ at a
K of about 40 MPa-m0.5 in NWC and HWC (1) were almost the
same as those in Alloy 182. However, the CGRs in HAZ at a K

SCC crack

Pre-crack
in air

Enlarged crack surface

Figure6. Fracture surface after the SCC test in modified DNCF-1J at initial K of 38.6 MPam0.5 in NWC (ECP; 130-140 mVSHE).
654

26.0



Alloy 182

Gentle
cycle load



25.5

25.0

CGR: 1.1 x 10-11 m/s

24.5

CGR: 1.1 x 10-11 m/s

24.0

CGRmax/CGRmean

R=0.9,
F=0.01Hz

Crack length (mm)

1:&
+:&
+:&
'1&)-1:&
'1&)-+:&
'1&)-+:&
0RG1:&
0RG'1&)-1:&

Constant load

Interruption
in the test

23.5
NWC






Initial K: 15MPa-m0.5
HWC (1) (ECP: 0 - 40 mVSHE)

Adjustment
of ECP








Average crack length (mm)

23.0
0

500

1000

1500

2000

3000

2500

Figure9. Relationship between the CGRmax and CGRmean

and the crack length (including crack propagation
length during gentle cycle loding)

Time (h)

Figure7. Crack propagation for Alloy 182 in HWC

(1)(Crack length determined by PDM results
corrected by observing the crack surface after the
test.)

Nb concentration and CGR in nickel-based alloys in NWC at a K

of between 40 and 50 MPa-m0.5. SCC cracks growth was
significantly reduced in the modified base metals, but no
beneficial effect was found in the modified weld metals.
Fig. 13 shows the chromium profiles across the dendrite boundary
of DNCF-1J and of modified DNCF-1J.
The chromium
concentration was 6 wt% at the boundary of DNCF-1J. At the
boundary of modified DNCF-1J, the chromium concentration was
8 wt%. The width of chromium depletion in DNCF-1J and in
modified DNCF-1J were approximately 40 nm and 20 nm
respectively. Modified DNCF-1J, which contains Nb in 3.73%,
showed the same degree of chromium depletion of DNCF-1J. In

of less than 30 MPa-m0.5 were higher than those in Alloy 182. In

the case of HWC (2), the CGRs in HAZ at a K of 20 to 40 MPam0.5 were almost the same as those in Alloy 182.
Crack growth behavior in modified alloys
SCC resistant alloys have been developed by adding Nb
to Ni-based alloys. There is a lot of clear evidence that these
prevent SCC initiation [5, 14]. The CGRs in Alloy 182, the
DNCF-1J and modified versions of these appeared to be nearly
equal, as shown in Fig. 8. Fig. 12 shows the relationship between

Material

CGRmeanCGRmax

(


GD GWP V
Crack
growth rate (m/s)

BWR
NWC

Alloy 182
DNCF-1J


(


HWC(1)
HWC(2)

NWC
HWC(1)
HWC(2)

Modified182
NWC
Modified DNCF-1J NWC


(


 

(


 
(


 

(










.03D P



Stress intensity factor K (MPa




m1/2)

Figure8. Comparison between CGRmean (closed symbols) and CGRmax (open symbols) in SMAW weld metals tested in various
environmental conditions (NWC; ECP about 150 mVSHE, HWC (1): 0 - -90, HWC (2): <-230 mVSHE)
655

HWC(1)ECP=0 - -90mVSHE
HWC(1')ECP=-80 - -110mVSHE
HWC(2)ECP=-380 - -480 mVSHE
NWC ECP=+160 - +190 mV SHE

10-8

Alloy 182
Crack growth rate (m/s)

Crack growth rate (m/s)

Alloy 182
10-9

10-10

10

-11

10

-12

10-8

10-9

10-10

10-11

K=33-45 MPam1/2
-12

30

20

10

40

50

1/2

10
100 -600

-500

-400

K (MPa m )

182
DNCF-1J
Mod. 182
Mod. DNCF-1J

HWC(1)ECP=0 - -60 mVSHE

HWC(2)ECP=-370 - -420 mVSHE
NWC ECP=+180 - +200 mVSHE

10

100

200

600
Mod 600(Low Nb)
Mod 600(High Nb)

-8

NWC
Crack growth rate (m/s)

Crack growth rate (m/s)

Alloy 600
10-9

10-10

10-11

10

-100

182. For a K of about 31 to 45 MPa-m0.5 in NWC and HWC (1),

there were two orders of difference between Alloy 82 and Alloy
182. The CGRs of Alloy 82 were one fifth of those of Alloy 182
at a K of approximately 15 MPa-m0.5. Saito et al. examined
chromium depletion at the grain boundary of Alloys 182, 82 and
600 [15], and reported that the chromium concentration at the
dendrite boundary in Alloy 82 was higher than that of the matrix
for Alloy 182. It is therefore hypothesized that the high
chromium concentration at the dendrite boundary in Alloy 82
caused high resistivity to SCC propagation.

the modified DNCF-1J, as in the DNCF-1J, it was observed that

there was precipitation of chromium carbide at the dendrite
boundary. It is therefore thought that the modified DNCF-1J did
not show any improvement in CGR. The 0.2% proof stress of the
modified
Alloy 182, modified DNCF-1J, Alloy 182 and DNCF-1J were
approximately 470, 400, 390 and 373 MPa-m0.5 respectively. The
high proof stress may be the cause of the high CGRs for the
modified alloys.
Fig. 14 shows a comparison between the CGR of Alloys
182 and 82 in NWC and HWC (1) at an initial K of 15 to 30 MPa
m0.5. The CGRs of Alloy 82 were much lower than those in Alloy

10-12

-200

ECP (mVSHE)

Figure10. ECP dependence of CGR in Alloy 182.

10-8

-300

20

30

40

50

100

K (MPa m1/2)
Figure11. Relationship between K (and ECP) and CGR in Alloy 600.

656

10

10

Weld metal

-9

-10

Base metal

10

-11

10

-12

Modified alloys

K=40-45 MPa m1/2

0

Nb concentration (%)

Figure12. Nb concentration dependence of CGR in Ni-based

alloys in NWC at K of 40 to 45 MPa m0.5

20
18
Analyzed
line

Boundary

Cr cincentration (wt%)

16
14
12
10
8
6


0

10 nm

-50

-40

-30

600,000

-20

-10

10

20

30

40

50

30

40

50

Distance from boundary (nm)

(a) DNCF-1J
20
18
Analyzed line

Cr cincentration (wt%)

16

Boundary

14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0

10 nm

-50

-40

-30

-20

-10

10

20

Distance from boundary (nm)

(b) Modified DNCF-1J

Figure13. TEM images and chromium profiles at the dendrite boundary of DNCF-1J (a) and modified
DNCF-1J (b).

Comparison with CGR disposition curves

10

Alloy 182, NWC

Alloy 182, HWC(1)
Alloy 82, NWC

-8

Weld metal
Crack growth rate (m/s)

A comparison of the CGRs in this study and the SKIFS

disposition curve [10], which is upper bound for NWC (ECP>230mV), and JSME S NA1-2004 [11], which is average curve for
Alloy 182 for NWC, is shown in Figure 15. The CGRs in weld
metal in this study showed values of approximately 1/5 to 1/10 of
the SKIF curve. It was reported that the CGR in Alloy 182
increases with conductivity [16]. The SKIFS curves were made
for conductivities of less than 0.3 S/cm, which is higher than the
test condition of this study where the conductivity was less than
0.1 S/cm. It is therefore thought that the difference between the
data of this study and SKIFS curve was caused by the difference
in the conductivities. The CGRs at a K of between 30 to 50 MPam0.5 in NWC and HWC (1) were lower than the disposition curve
of the JSME S NA1-2004. However, the CGRs at a K of 20 to 30
MPa-m0.5 in HWC (1) were higher than the JSME S NA1-2004.
In comparison with this study, the SKIF curve for Alloy 182 in
NWC was conservative, and that there were some risks associated
with the JSME S NA1-2004 curve for low K.
The CGRs at a K of between 30 and 50 MPa-m0.5 in
NWC and HWC (1) were lower than the values for the SKIF

10

Alloy 182, NWC,HWC(1)

-9

-10

10

-11

10

Alloy 82, NWC

-12

10

10

20

30

40

50

100

K (MPa m1/2)
Figure14. Comparison of CGRs of Alloy 182 and 82 in NWC
and HWC (1) at an initial K of 15 to 30 MPa m0.5.
657

182, HWC(1)
182, NWC
DNCF, HWC(1)
DNCF, NWC
Modified182, NWC
Modified DNCF, NWC

10-8

Crack growth rate (m/s)

Weld metal
SKIFS
(Sweden, 1996)

10-9

Base metal
10-9

SKIFS
(Sweden, 1996)

10-10

10-10

JSME S NAI-2004
(Japan, 2004)

10-11

10-12

600 HWC(1)
600 NWC

10-8

10

20

30

40

50

10-11

10-12
10
100

1/2

K (MPa m )

20

30

40

50

100

K (MPa m1/2)

Figure15. Comparison of our CGR data with the SKIFS and JSME S NA1-2004.
curve. The CGRs at a K of 20 to 30 MPa-m0.5 in HWC (1) were
equal or slightly higher to the SKIFS curves. There is the
difference of conductivity between SKIFS and this study
mentioned above. However the SKIFS curve for Alloy 600 in
NWC seemed to be appropriate to the evaluation of CGR of this
alloy 600. In this study, the specimens of Alloy 600 were made
so that the SCC in the heat affected zone was able to propagate
parallel to the fusion line. On the other hand, the SKIFS-curve
may have been made by the heat-treated Alloy600 which
simulated HAZ. Therefore it was thought that relationship of
alloy 600 between the data of this study and SKIFS curve above
was caused by the difference in the materials.

40 MPa-m0.5 in HWC (1) were about fifty times those for HWC
(2).
4. The CGRs in the Alloy 182 were almost the same as for DNCF1J under all conditions. The CGRs in modified Alloy 182 and
modified DNCF-1J were almost the same or higher than the
original alloys.
5. The CGRs of Alloy 82 in NWC were approximately 1/5 to
1/100 times lower than the CGRs of Alloy 182.
6. In comparison with this study, the SKIF curve for Alloy 182 in
NWC was conservative, and that there were some risks associated
with the JSME S NA1-2004 curve for low K. SKIFS curve for
Alloy 600 in NWC seemed to be appropriate to the evaluation of
CGR of this alloy 600.

Summary
SCC crack growth experiments were carried out in
simulated BWR environments on Alloy 182, DNiCrFe-1J (JIS,
denoted as DNCF-1J) and Alloy 600 (HAZ). Crack growth rates
were determined from long-term tests of between 1,000 and 6,000
h. The CGRs were evaluated by considering their relationship
with K and the environment (ECP). The CGRs were compared
with the curves of CGR against K proposed by SKIFS (1996) and
the JSME S NA1-2004. The results were as follows.

This work was performed as a part of the NiSCC project

supported by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
(METI).

References
1. All SCC cracks showed interdendritic and intergranular
morphology.

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2. The CGRs in weld metals in NWC were slightly higher than the
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3. NRC INFORMATION NOTICE 2004 -11, 6 May 2004

658

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