Corrosion and Mechanics of Materials

Programs of the Corrosion and Mechanics of Materials Section address specific concerns related to corrosion and the effects of various environments on the mechanical behavior of materials used in several types of energy systems. The research is sponsored by various branches of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) that include the Office of Fusion Science, the Office of Fossil Energy, and the Office of Industrial Technologies. In addition, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) supports light water reactor (LWR) research, which includes studies of effects of reactor environments on low-cycle fatigue and crack propagation in reactor structural alloys, irradiation-induced susceptibility to stress corrosion cracking, cladding criteria for high-burnup fuel, air oxidation kinetics for Zr-based alloys, and effects of impurities in helium on scaling and mechanical properties. Highlighted below is our research into aging degradation of light water reactors, corrosion in advanced combustion power systems, design criteria for materials subject to neutron embrittlement in fusion reactors, and metal dusting in various industrial processes.

Last Modified: Wed, May 9, 2012 4:24 PM