The effect of hydride morphology on the failure strain of stress-relieved Zircaloy-4 cladding with an outer surface pre-crack under biaxial stress states

Experimental study and modelling of the phase transformation of Zircaloy-4 alloy under high thermal transients

“…The as-received microstructure of the samples is presented in Figure 11. The material is composed of thin and elongated grains as usually found in the literature [17].…”

“…Specimens were cut from Stress Relieved Annealed (SRA) Zircaloy-4 (Zr-4) claddings (see the chemical composition in Table 1). The microstructure of the as-received material is composed of thin and elongated grains and presents a texture having the c direction at ±30 • from the radial direction of the tube [17]. The samples have an initial eccentricity of between 1 and 3% [18].…”

Thermo-mechanical behavior of Zircaloy-4 claddings under simulated post-DNB conditions

“…The specimens were cut from as-fabricated stress relieved annealed (SRA) Zircaloy-4 claddings (see the chemical composition in Table 1). The initial microstructure of the material is composed of thin and elongated grains and presents a texture having the [0002] direction at +/-30 • from the radial direction of the tube [26]. The samples were 90mm long with an outer diameter of 9.5mm and a wall-thickness of 0.57mm.…”

The effect of strain biaxiality on the fracture of zirconium alloy fuel cladding

“…Shinozaki et al [17][18] and Li et al [19] developed a type of EDC test in which the sample experiences tensile axial strain as well as tensile hoop strain. Therefore, the strain biaxiality is very similar to that experienced by fuel cladding during PCMI.…”