New Low-Sn Zr Cladding Alloys with Excellent Autoclave Corrosion Resistance and High Strength

Zhang, Ruiqian; Jiang, Beibei; Pang, Chang; Dai, Xianying; Sun, Yun; Liao, Wei; Wang, Qing; Chen, Dong

doi:10.3390/met7040144

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…As expected, the low-Sn Zr alloys are good candidates for enhancing the corrosion resistance of Zr cladding alloys in nuclear reactors, presenting both high corrosion resistance and high strength. In this context, as a strategy for improving cladding materials, a new alloy series of Zr-0.25Sn-0.36Fe-0.11Cr-xNb (x = 0.4~1.2 wt.%) was developed and investigated [16]. Having various amounts of Nb, such alloys are in fact modified from Zirlo alloys and exhibit a single hexagonal α-Zr structure [17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-Term Corrosion Testing of Zy-4 in a LiOH Solution under High Pressure and Temperature Conditions

et al. 2021

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The fuel cladding is one of the most important structural components for maintaining the integrity of a fuel channel and for safely exploitation of a nuclear power plant. The corrosion behavior of a fuel cladding material, Zy-4, under high pressure and temperatures conditions, was analyzed in a static isothermal autoclave under simulated primary water conditions—a LiOH solution at 310 °C and 10 MPa for up to 3024 h. After this, the oxides grown on the Zy-4 sample surface were characterized using electrochemical measurements, gravimetric analysis, metallographic analysis, SEM and XPS. The maximum oxide thicknesses evaluated by gravimetric and SEM measurements were in good agreement; both values were around 1.2 µm. The optical light microscopy (OLM) investigations identified the presence of small hydrides uniformly distributed horizontally across the alloy. EIS impedance spectra showed an increase in the oxide impedance for the samples oxidized for a long time. EIS plots has the best fit with an equivalent circuit which illustrated an oxide model that has two oxide layers: an inner oxide layer and outer layer. The EIS results showed that the inner layer was a barrier layer, and the outer layer was a porous layer. Potentiodynamic polarization results demonstrated superior corrosion resistance of the samples tested for longer periods of time. By XPS measurements we identified all five oxidation states of zirconium: Zr0 located at 178.5 eV; Zr4+ at 182.8 eV; and the three suboxides, Zr+, Zr2+ and Zr3+ at 179.7, 180.8 and 181.8 eV, respectively. The determination of Vickers microhardness completed the investigation.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-Term Corrosion Testing of Zy-4 in a LiOH Solution under High Pressure and Temperature Conditions

et al. 2021

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“…The excess Nb element precipitate in the form of second phases. According to our previous selected-area electron diffraction (SAED) analysis of TEM, the second phases are identified as the Laves phase Zr(Fe,Cr,Nb)2 with a hexagonal structure [18]. The mechanical properties of the zirconium alloys are tested at room temperature.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Nb content on the mechanical behavior of zirconium alloys

Pang¹,

Li²,

Zhao³

et al. 2022

J. Phys.: Conf. Ser.

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Zirconium alloys are basically used in the core structural components of a nuclear reactor. For further understanding mechanical behaviors of zirconium alloy, several alloys with various Nb content are investigated. Microstructure observation, Vickers hardness and mechanical stress-strain curves have been investigated and numerically extracted. Conclusions confirm that the precipitation content of the second phases in Zr-Sn-Nb-Fe-Cr alloys increases with the gradual increment of Nb content. When Nb content reaches to 1.2 wt.%, the excess Nb participates in the formation of second phase containing Nb, which increases the amount of second phases. Moreover, the increase of alloy strength and hardness is mainly attributed to the precipitation strengthening mechanism of second phases.

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“…The corrosion resistance and mechanical strength of Zr alloys, to a large extent, depend on alloying elements. The paper by Zhang et al [1] provides an insight into the influence of Sn element on the properties of Zr-based alloy. Based on this work, a new low-Sn Zr alloy series of Zr-0.25Sn-0.36Fe-0.11Cr-xNb was developed.…”

Section: Contributionsmentioning

confidence: 99%