Investigating zirconium alloy corrosion with advanced experimental techniques: A review

Kautz, Elizabeth J.; Gwalani, Bharat; Yu, Zefeng; Varga, Tamás; Geelhood, Kenneth J.; Devaraj, Arun; Senor, David J.

doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2023.154586

Cited by 25 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 115 publications

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“…For the non-hydrogenated samples, this transition occurred at 160 days; however, both low-hydrogen and high-hydrogen samples experienced it at 130 days instead. The growth kinetics of zirconium alloy oxide film can be divided into two stages: before the transition, the corrosion rate is low and follows an approximately cubic weight gain curve; after the transition, there is an increase in corrosion rate and a shift towards an approximately linear weight gain curve [23]. It was observed that hydrogenation advanced the transition time for these samples, indicating that it accelerates Zircaloy-4's Conversely, the hydrogenated samples display elongated strip-like hydrides that are predominantly parallel to each other [17][18][19], with a uniform distribution throughout the alloy.…”

Section: Effect Of Hydrogenation On the Corrosion Kinetics Of Zircaloy-4mentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Hydrogenation on the Corrosion Behavior of Zircaloy-4

Yue,

Zhou,

Zhao

et al. 2024

Materials

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Hydrogen plays an important role in the corrosion of zirconium alloys, and the degree of influence highly depends on the alloy composition and conditions. In this work, the effects of hydrogenation on the corrosion behavior of Zircaloy-4 in water containing 3.5 ppm Li + 1000 ppm B at 360 °C/18.6 MPa were investigated. The results revealed that hydrogenation can shorten the corrosion transition time and increase the corrosion rates of Zircaloy-4. The higher corrosion rates can be ascribed to the larger stress in the oxide film of hydrogenated samples, which can accelerate the evolution of the microstructure of the oxide film. In addition, we also found that hydrogenation has little effect on the t-ZrO2 content in the oxide film and there is no direct correspondence between the t-ZrO2 content and the corrosion resistance of the Zircaloy-4.

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Section: Effect Of Hydrogenation On the Corrosion Kinetics Of Zircaloy-4mentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Hydrogenation on the Corrosion Behavior of Zircaloy-4

Yue,

Zhou,

Zhao

et al. 2024

Materials

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“…mainly two types of precipitates in Zr-Sn-Nb alloy after the Pilger rolling [8], i.e. hcp Zr(Nb, Fe) 2 Laves phase with more irregular shape and larger size from 0.2 to 1.0 µm [7,9], as well as bcc β-Nb phase with a rounder shape and smaller size of about 30 nm [10,11]. Besides, Nb clusters containing several atoms are often observed [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Several commonly used Zr-Sn series alloys, such as Zr-2 and Zr-4, have been gradually replaced by Zr-Sn-Nb series alloys such as ZIRLO, M5, E635, and N36 [5,6]. It was found that Nbcontaining Zr-alloys have better corrosion resistance, partly because of the delayed oxidation of bcc Nb [7]. There are * Author to whom any correspondence should be addressed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atomistic simulations of the interaction of edge dislocations with β-Nb precipitates in Zr-Nb alloys

Lin,

Chen,

Bai

et al. 2024

J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys.

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Experiments have shown that precipitation can affect the mechanical properties of zirconium alloy, but the interaction mechanism between dislocations and Nb precipitates in zirconium alloys is still unclear. Thus, a systematic molecular dynamics study was performed to investigate the interaction between edge dislocations and Nb precipitates. It was found that the dislocation passed through Nb precipitate by shear mechanism, and the critical resolved shear stress increased with the diameter of the precipitate. After completion of the interaction, dislocations formed jogs due to climb when the precipitates were larger than 2 or 3 nm. Some atoms in the precipitate were more disordered after dislocation shearing, and dislocation fragments were generated around the precipitate, both of which lead to the precipitate hardening. The calculation of obstacle strength further confirmed that unsheared Nb precipitates until hundred nanometers were the weak obstacle for dislocations.

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“…Zirconium alloys have attracted great attention and are used as fuel cladding tubes in nuclear reactors due to their low thermal neutron cross-section, excellent corrosion resistance, remarkable irradiation-induced creep, swelling resistance, and good compatibility with uranium [1][2][3][4][5]. During use in a reactor, the microstructure and properties of zirconium alloys deteriorate because of the high temperature, high pressure, stress, corrosive medium, and especially strong neutron irradiation, which directly affect the service lifetime and, therefore, the safe operation of nuclear power plants.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Niobium on the Mechanical and Thermodynamic Properties of Zirconium Alloys

Kong,

Kuang,

et al. 2024

Metals

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The alloy element Nb plays an important role in improving the performance of zirconium alloys in nuclear reactors. The effect mechanism of Nb doping on mechanical and thermodynamic properties was investigated using experimental and theoretical methods. The results of this study showed us that Nb doping refines grains and enhances hardness. The hardness increases from 2.67 GPa of pure Zr to 2.99 GPa of Zr1.5Nb. Depending on the first-principles calculations, the hardness decreases with the increase in the Nb concentration in the Zr matrix, namely from 2.45 Gpa of pure Zr to 1.78 GPa of Zr1.5Nb. If the first-principles calculations indicate that the hardness decreases with the increase in the Nb concentration in the Zr matrix, grain refinement or defects could play a major role in the increase in hardness. Furthermore, regarding the effect of Nb doping on thermal expansion coefficients, the increase in Nb content causes the thermal expansion coefficients to decrease, which might stem from the strong binding energy between Nb and Zr atoms. The thermal conductivities of three samples show similar changing trends, indicating that thermal conductivity begins to decrease at room temperature and reaches a minimum value of around 400 °C. The thermal conductivity of pure zirconium samples is consistently higher, is more obvious than that of Nb-doped samples in the test range, and decreases with an increase in the doping concentration. The possible reasons for this might stem from the distortion of the Zr matrix due to Nb substitution doping and grain refinement, both of which cause phonon propagation scattering and thus hinder the propagation of phonons. The results obtained herein may be useful for the development of advanced nuclear fuels and waste forms that utilize zirconium in applications beyond their current usage.

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Investigating zirconium alloy corrosion with advanced experimental techniques: A review

Cited by 25 publications

References 115 publications

Effects of Hydrogenation on the Corrosion Behavior of Zircaloy-4

Effects of Hydrogenation on the Corrosion Behavior of Zircaloy-4

Atomistic simulations of the interaction of edge dislocations with β-Nb precipitates in Zr-Nb alloys

The Effect of Niobium on the Mechanical and Thermodynamic Properties of Zirconium Alloys

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