CHARACTERIZATION OF CORROSION LAYER OF CARBON STEEL BY MICRO-PIXE/RBS ANALYSIS
Abstract
Wall thinning of piping made of carbon steel in nuclear and thermal power plants affects their life time and safety. Wall thinning results from dissolution of the oxide layer formed on the surface. To get a better understanding of this mechanism, characterization of oxide layer in localized area should be examined. We applied the simultaneous micro-PIXE/RBS analysis to characterization of the oxide layer in localized area. The oxide layer formed under the dynamic condition is not uniform over the 20 × 20 µm2 area. In this case, it is difficult to characterize layer by conventional RBS analysis. The simultaneous micro-PIXE/RBS system could characterize the layer by region analysis. Micro-PIXE analysis was applicable for segmentation of the specific area Then, RBS spectra was extracted from the area and the layer for the corresponding area was characterized. By combining micro-PIXE and micro-RBS, characterization of oxide layer could be done so as to get a better understanding of the corrosion mechanism effectively.
