PSI - Issue 81

Available online at www.sciencedirect.com

ScienceDirect

Procedia Structural Integrity 81 (2026) 470–477

VIII International Conference “In -service Damage of Materials: Diagnostics and Prediction “ (DMDP 2025) Corrosion degradation of Inconel 601 in a static lead melt at temperatures of 450 and 650 °C Anatolii Klymenko a, *, Mikhail Byk b , Alexander Shapiro c , Olexandr Buket b , Svitlana Kovalenko d , Yurii Kovalenko b

a Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise Ministry of Justice of Ukraine 6, Brodsky Family Str., 03057, Kyiv, Ukraine b National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”37, Peremogy Ave., 03056, Kyiv, Ukraine c GenСell Ltd Hatnufa 7, Petah – Tikva, 4951025, Israel d E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute, NAS of Ukraine 11, Kazimir Malevich Str., 03150, Kyiv, Ukraine

© 2026 The Authors. Copy from the contract: Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of DMDP 2025 organizers Keywords: Inconel 601; corrosion resistance; lead melt; scanning and optical microscopy. 1. Introduction Inconel 601 is a nickel-chromium-iron alloy with a face-centered cubic solid solution, exhibiting a high degree of metallurgical stability. It is highly resistant to heat and corrosion, with excellent resistance to oxidation at high temperatures, which is further enhanced by its aluminum content (Iqbal et al. (2025)). The alloy also offers good stress-corrosion cracking resistance, resistance to aqueous corrosion, and resistance to many corrosive media, thanks to its nickel base combined with substantial chromium content. Additionally, Inconel 601 has good mechanical properties and creep resistance at high temperatures, as highlighted by Abstract The results of the study of corrosion degradation of the INCONEL 601 alloy in a static lead melt with limited oxygen access at temperatures of 450 and 650 °C for 1440 hours, with intermediate examination of samples after 240, 480 and 1000 hours of testing, are presented. It was found that increasing the melt temperature from 450 °C to 650 °C leads to an increase in the corrosion rate of the alloy by more than 10 times. On the other hand, an increase in the duration of the tests is characterized by a tendency to reduce the corrosion rate by approximately 2 times at a melt temperature of 650 °C and by more than 11 times at a melt temperature of 450 °C, which is explained by the formation of surface-blocking protective oxide films and corrosion products. The steel surface morphology of the formed oxide deposits, the structure and elemental composition were studied by X-ray spectral microanalysis with an energy dispersive spectrometer. The results of optical microscopy and durometric analysis are also presented. It was also found that after the tests, a layer of corrosion products of a dense sandwich structure is formed with a clear separation of layers, which include O, Al, Cr, Fe, Ni and Pb, and the quantitative composition of which varies with thickness. It is shown that molten lead, after 1440 hours, replaces nickel in the surface layers of the alloy, penetrating deep into the base metal, and nickel, due to diffusion through the melt, crystallizes on the surface of the melt in the form of nickel oxide.

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +380992622586 E-mail address: aklimenko@meta.ua

2452-3216 © 2026 The Authors. Copy from the contract: Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of DMDP 2025 organizers 10.1016/j.prostr.2026.03.081