Publications Details

Characterization of general and localized corrosion resistance of several titanium alloys in high temperature brines

Gordon, Gerald M.; Mon, Kevin G.; Kim, Young J.

For the Yucca Mountain Project nuclear waste repository design, the emplaced waste packages are covered by a self-supported inverted U-shaped drip shield fabricated from Ti Grade 7 with Ti Grade 29 structural support members. This paper reports experimental results obtained to characterize the corrosion behavior of several titanium alloys. General corrosion rates were obtained using weight loss and electrochemical techniques such as cyclic potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Localized corrosion resistance was assessed from the results of cyclic potentiodynamic polarization and long-term corrosion potential measurements. The results indicate the drip shield titanium alloys are highly resistant to general and localized corrosion under repository-relevant conditions. © 2009 by NACE International.