About this Abstract | 
  
   
    | Meeting | 
    2025 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
       | 
  
   
    | Symposium 
       | 
    Environmentally Assisted Cracking: Theory and Practice
       | 
  
   
    | Presentation Title | 
    Exploring the Effect of Various Atmospheric Environmental Parameters on Pit-to-Crack Transition and SCC Failure in SS304   | 
  
   
    | Author(s) | 
    Daria M. Bentley, Jenifer  Locke | 
  
   
    | On-Site Speaker (Planned) | 
    Daria M. Bentley | 
  
   
    | Abstract Scope | 
    
A variety of pit morphologies can occur on stainless steel (SS) used for dry cask nuclear waste storage canisters as a result of varying atmospheric conditions. Pit morphologies at 40% RH have a “cross-hatched” morphology with microcracks on the outer edges, while the classic hemispherical etched pits are seen at 76% RH. This work induces pits of differing morphology onto SS304H to evaluate the transition and initiation into stress corrosion cracking (SCC). SCC crack growth rates (da/dt) in canister relevant brines are also being measured to facilitate integration into a machine learning model designed by a collaborator to predict the likelihood that distinctive pit morphologies transition into cracks.  The roles of sub-deformation and atmospheric solution chemistry on the pit-to-crack transition and SCC failure will be understood.  | 
  
   
    | Proceedings Inclusion? | 
    Planned:  | 
  
 
    | Keywords | 
    Environmental Effects, Nuclear Materials, Iron and Steel |