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Going Nuclear: Notes from the officially unofficial book tour
I work in the analytical labs at one of Europe’s oldest and largest nuclear sites: Sellafield, in northwestern England. I spend my days at the fume hood front, pipette in one hand and radiation probe in the other (and dosimeter pinned to my chest, of course). Outside the lab, I have a second job: I moonlight as a writer and public speaker. My new popular science book—Going Nuclear: How the Atom Will Save the World—came out last summer, and it feels like my life has been running at full power ever since.
M. W. Mahoney, N. E. Paton
Nuclear Technology | Volume 23 | Number 3 | September 1974 | Pages 290-297
Technical Paper | Material | doi.org/10.13182/NT74-A15921
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Fatigue crack growth rates of Types 316 and 321 stainless steel were studied as a function of stress intensity, temperature, relative humidity, and gas environment. At 25°C it was shown that humidity in the presence of oxygen will accelerate crack growth rates by a factor of ∼1.7, as compared to an inert environment such as dry nitrogen or argon. In addition, a threshold level is implied for the effect of humidity above which further increases in moisture content have no additional influence on crack growth rates. At 649°C an air environment was found to increase crack growth rates by factors of ∼22 and ∼5 for Types 316 and 321 stainless steel, respectively, over rates determined in either argon or nitrogen. Crack growth rates in nitrogen and argon at 649°C were comparable to crack growth rates at 25°C, leading to the conclusion that increased growth rates observed at 649°C in air are principally a result of environmental interactions with the crack front rather than a result of reduced mechanical properties at 649°C. These results also show that Type 321 stainless steel is less susceptible than Type 316 to aggressive environments at 649°C such as room air, suggesting that Type 321 might be a better choice of material for some elevated temperature applications. Fractography of specimens tested at 649°C revealed the absence of striation formation for specimens tested in inert environments, while pronounced striations were found in environments such as air.