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ABSTRACT
The aim of this paper is to show that in the nuclear industry, such as in many
cases, wear is a combination of mechanical, material and environmental parameters.
The influence of water chemistry is well illustrated. The particular wear
characteristics observed in a nuclear plant on worn components were reproduced
with a specific tribometer developed by FRAMATOME-ANP.
KEYWORDS: nuclear plant, tribometer, wear, water pH, temperature.
1. INTRODUCTION
In nuclear power plants, slender tubular
components are subjected to vibrations in a
Pressurised High Temperature Water (PHTW)
environment. As a result, the two contacting surfaces,
tubes and their guides undergo impact at low contact
pressures [1]. The components are usually made of
stainless steel and it was found that the influence of
the PHTW, combined with other actions (such as
corrosion, third body effect and contact kinematics)
leads to a particular wear of the material [2, 3].
Therefore, this paper aims to show that the
environment (waters temperature and pH), play a role
in the wear rate of the surfaces.
a)
b)
Fig. 1. Main view of the FRAMATOME tribometer (a) and schematic cross section of the tribometer (b).
Both samples (tube and ring) are made of
austenitic stainless steel (18 wt % Cr, 10 wt % Ni, 2
wt % Mn and 70 wt % Fe), (AISI 304L).
Contact area
Internallayer ( FeNiCr)O4
304L stainless steel
Cross section
2 m
3. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
A semi-orbital sliding plus impact movement is
applied to the tube. The contact between the tube and
the sleeve is thus periodically disturbed. The result is
a succession of orbital sliding and impact contacts,
with a contact duration of approximately 1 ms. The
trajectory of the tube covers the half part of the total
circumference of the samples and with a go and back
movement (fig. 4). Two water chemistries were tested
at 300C, with and without Li, leading to pH ranging
from 7 to 5 (see Chapter 2 Tribometer and material).
b)
a)
Fig. 5. SEM micrograph of worn surfaces of a tube after impact plus sliding tests (a) We can observe the
elongated indent like shape marks obtain in orbital sliding with impact conditions. They cover the entire wear scar.
(b) Cross section of the worn area. There is no apparent work hardening or plastic deformation of the grains.
10
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Tube pH7
Ring pH7
Tube pH5
Ring pH5
4. CONCLUSIONS
In nuclear power plants, many tribological
problems occur due to periodical interaction between
components. Due to the particular atmosphere, the
study of these problems is quite complex and most
analyses involve the use of a special tribometer. The
water temperature and pH play a major role due to the
nature and the properties of the oxide layer.
REFERENCES
1. Ko P. L., 1987, Metallic wear, a review with special references
to vibration-induced wear in power plant components, Tribology
International, 20, (2), p. 66-78.
2. Ko P. L., 1997, Wear of power plant components due to
impact and sliding, Applied Mechanics Reviews, ASME, 50, (7), p.
387-411.
3. Hogmark S., berg A., Stridh B., 1985, On the wear of heat
exchanger tubes, JSLE Proc., Tokyo, Japan, p. 723-729.
4. Zahouani H., Sidoroff F., 2001, Rough surfaces and elastoplastic contacts, Comptes rendus de lacadmie des sciences, tome
2, Srie 4, p. 709-715.
5. Kaczorowski D., 2002, Usures dun acier inoxydable dans de
leau haute pression et haute temperature, Ecole Centrale de
Lyon, Thesis.
6. Stellwag B., 1998, The mechanism of oxide film formation on
austenitic stainless steels in high temperature water, Corrosion
Science, 40, (2-3), p. 337-3710.