Mathematical kinetics model accurately depicts grain-level corrosion plaguing metal alloys
A core concern for any structural material is maintaining a prolonged, effective service life. Notably, critical metal alloy failures typically initiate beyond the naked eye, where intergranular (between the grains) oxidation combines with stress corrosion, causing cracks. Even worse, these corrosive attacks ultimately can result in total metal alloy failure. In their work examining intergranular attack of alloys under hydrothermal conditions, scientists from PNNL's ACMD Division Computational Mathematics group, Physical Sciences Division, and Energy and Environment Directorate developed a mathematical model that is directly comparable to experimental data in predicting how fast oxygen penetrates binary alloys and the resulting depletion of select elements in the materials that leads to failures. Their work reveals insights into oxidation mechanisms at the atomic level that provide a new perspective on ways to improve materials durability.