Alloying effects on the corrosion behavior of binary Nb-based and Mo-basedalloys in liquid Li

Alloying effects on the corrosion in liquid Li at 1473 K have been investig ated for both binary Nb-based and Mo-based alloys. For the binary Nb-based alloys, the weight change due to the corrosion varied largely with alloying elements. Also. there was a clear difference in the surface morphology bet ween them after corrosion tests, Either one or two corrosion products and l arge cracks were observed on the surface of all the Nb-based alloys. The we ight change of a Nb-Hf alloy was the smallest among a variety of Nb-based a lloys, indicating that the Hf addition was very effective in improving the corrosion resistance. On the other hand, for the binary Mo-based alloys the weight change was about a factor of 10 smaller than that for the binary Nb -based alloys. There were no cracks and a little corrosion products on the surface of them, indicating that the Mo-based alloys have much superior cor rosion resistance in liquid Li than the Nb-based alloys. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.