The effect of zinc addition on corrosion behavior of stainless steels with different phases in simulated PWR primary water

Abstract

In this study, corrosion behaviors of commercial austenitic, ferritic stainless steels, and duplex stainless steel with B2-NiAl were investigated in simulated PWR primary water environments with and without zinc addition. In addition, electrochemical methods such as EIS and Mott-Schottky analyses were utilized to investigate oxide layers. Zinc was incorporated mainly into chromium-rich spinel. For austenitic stainless steel, improvement on corrosion was observed, however other stainless steels showed less effects by zinc addition. It was found that beneficial effect of zinc addition depends on chromium content of matrix and the presence of low chromium-containing phase reduced beneficial effect. © 2022 Elsevier Ltd