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Engineering Commons

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Mechanical Engineering

Theses and Dissertations

2016

304L

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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Feasibility Of Friction Stir Processing (Fsp) As A Method Of Healing Cracks In Irradiated 304l Stainless Steels, Cameron Cornelius Gunter Dec 2016

Feasibility Of Friction Stir Processing (Fsp) As A Method Of Healing Cracks In Irradiated 304l Stainless Steels, Cameron Cornelius Gunter

Theses and Dissertations

The current US fleet of nuclear reactors has been in service for three decades. Over this period, existing welds in stainless steel (SS) shrouds have sustained stress corrosion cracking (SCC) and are in need of repair. Additionally, helium has formed interstitially as a byproduct of proton bombardment. Current repair technology, such as TIG welding, puts extreme amounts of heat into the material and allows for interstitial helium atoms to aggregate and form bubbles/voids at grain boundaries. This significantly weakens the material, proving to be a very counterproductive and ineffective repair technique. Much study has been done on friction stir processing …