Mechanical behavior in liquid lead of Al2O3 coated 15-15Ti steel and an Alumina-Forming Austenitic steel designed to mitigate their corrosion

The mechanical behavior in liquid lead of the 15-15Ti steel coated by an alumina layer and an Alumina Forming Austenitic (AFA) steel, with a chemical composition allowing for the formation of alumina at the surface of the steel, has been studied. To investigate the liquid metal embrittlement (LME) sensitivity by liquid lead, tensile tests in air and in liquid lead have been carried out at 400 °C and 500 °C. Then analyses of the cracking and of the fracture surfaces have been performed. No LME sensitivity at the tested conditions was observed for the Al2O3 coated 15-15Ti steel. The AFA steel is not sensitive to LME at 400 °C but suffers from LME at 500 °C. For the AFA steel, the liquid lead promotes at 500 °C an intergranular propagation of surface cracks which suggests a grain boundary wetting-dominated LME mechanism of this steel at 500 °C.