The safety needs in the operation of nuclear power plant facilities have been increased due to the high temperature and pressure operation conditions within these facilities. Several reports exist on the fretting occurring in the materials of stearn g...
The safety needs in the operation of nuclear power plant facilities have been increased due to the high temperature and pressure operation conditions within these facilities. Several reports exist on the fretting occurring in the materials of stearn generator tubes used in nuclear power plants, which leads to a lower service life. The Inconel 600 alloy, used in steam generator tubes, is a type of nickel-chromium based heat resistant alloy. However, it is necessary to establish a systematic database to guarantee its integrity because there are few data indicating fretting fatigue behaviors at both room and high temperature conditions for the Inconel 600 alloy. Thus, this study analyzed the change in the fatigue characteristics of the Inconel 600 alloy under fretting fatigue by applying plain and fretting fatigue tests at 320℃, which is the room and actual operating temperature applied to the materials of stearn generator tubes. In addition, this study measured the change in the friction force for repetitive cycles in fretting fatigue tests and analyzed the mechanism of fretting fatigue by observing the fracture surfaces.