Corrosion property investigation of laser-cladding copper coating in the simulated nuclear waste disposal solution

Abstract

To explore the efficient corrosion protection for the nuclear waste storage containers, pure copper coatings were successfully prepared on the 20# steel pipe surface using an infrared laser system under different laser powers. The study was conducted on the copper coatings, encompassing the surface quality, defects, microstructure, elemental distribution, phase composition, and corrosion products. The electrochemical and immersion corrosion behavior of the copper coatings in simulated nuclear waste disposal solutions was analyzed. The pure copper coating prepared by 2800 W laser power has fewer amounts and smaller sizes of defects inside the coating with only a slight fusion of Cu and Fe elements at the interface, which exhibits the highest corrosion potential and the smallest self-corrosion current density. During the immersion corrosion process, pores and unfused defects inside the coating, as well as the pits formed by galvanic coupling corrosion, lead to enhanced acidity inside these defects, resulting in a higher corrosion rate. As the immersion time proceeds, the corrosion rate slows down gradually and the content of Cu2+ corrosion product increases significantly.

Keywords

• Laser cladding
• Pure copper
• Immersion corrosion
• Corrosion mechanism