Annual report of the Argonne National Laboratory Radiological and Environmental Research Division regarding activities related to molecular physics and chemistry.

Intergranular stress-corrosion crack (IGSCC) propagation rates were measured in three heats of sensitized Type 304 stainless steel (SS) as a function of sensitization in an environment of high-purity water with 8 ppm oxygen, using a fracture mechanics approach. Specimens were sensitized using controlled furnace heat treatments and the degree of sensitization was measured by the electrochemical potentiokinetic reactivation (EPR) method. Active loading tests were performed on standard specimens over a range of intensities. Crack lengths were determined by compilance measurements using in-situ high-temperature clip gage or LVDT methods, optical metallography on the side faces of the specimen, and fractography of the cracked surface after completion of the tests. The optical metallography measurements did not provide useful estimates of crack lengths, because large variations in IGSCC propagation across the thickness of the specimens occurred. The effects of the degree of sensitization on the IGSCC propagation rate are obscured by the data scatter. However, it seems clear that these variables do not lead to order-of-magnitude changes in the crack propagation rate.

In the process of learning how to write code for the Denelcor HEP, we have developed an approach that others may well find useful. We believe that the basic synchronization primitives of the HEP (i.e., asynchronous variables), along with the prototypical patterns for their use given in the HEP FORTRAN 77 User's Guide, form too low-level a conceptual basis for the formulation of multiprocessing algorithms. We advocate the use of monitors, which can be easily implemented using the HEP primitives. Attempts to solve substantial problems without introducing higher-level constructs such as monitors can produce code that is unreliable, unintelligible, and restricted to the specific dialect of FORTRAN currently supported on the HEP. Our experience leads us to believe that solutions which are both clear and efficient can be formulated using monitors.

In a previous paper, the advantages of using monitors when implementing multiprocessing algorithms for the Denelcor HEP were delineated. A detailed presentation is given here of how monitors can be implemented on the HEP using a simple macro processor. The thesis is developed that a small body of general-purpose monitors can be defined to handle most standard synchronization patterns. We include the macro packages required to implement some of the more common synchronization patterns, including the fairly complex logic discussed before. Code produced using these macro packages is portable from one multiprocessing environment to another. Indeed, by recoding the set of basic macros (about 100 lines of code for the Denelcor HEP), most programs that are now being written could be moved to any similar multiprocessing system.

Elbow assemblies and adjacent piping from the loops A and B core spray injection lines of Quad Cities Units 1 and 2 Boiling Water Reactors have been examined in order to determine the nature and causes of coolant leakages and flaw indications detected during hydrostatic tests and subsequent ultrasonic inspections. The elbow assemblies were found to contain multiple intergranular cracks in the weld heat-affected zones. The cracking was predominantly axial in orientation in the forged elbow and wedge components, whereas mixed axial and circumferential cracking was seen in the wrought piping pieces. In at least two instances, axial cracks completely penetrated the circumferential weld joining adjacent components. Based upon the observations made in the present study, the failures were attributed to intergranular stress corrosion cracking caused by the weld-induced sensitized microstructure and residual stresses present; dissolved oxygen in the reactor coolant apparently served as the corrosive species. The predominantly axial orientation of the cracks present in the forged components is believed to be related to the banded microstructure present in these components. The metallographic studies reported are supplemented by x-radiography, chemical analysis and mechanical test results, determinations of the degree of sensitization present, and measurements of weld metal delta ferrite …