The Influence of Different Contents of Bi Addition on the Corrosion Behavior of Various Zirconium-Based Alloys

Abstract

Zr-4(Zr-1.5Sn-0.2Fe-0.1Cr, wt%), S5(Zr-0.8Sn-0.34Nb-0.39Fe-0.1Cr), T5(Zr-0.7Sn-1.07Nb-0.32Fe-0.08Cr) and Zr-1Nb were adopted to prepare Bi-containing zirconium alloys for systematically investigating the effect of Bi addition on the corrosion resistance of zirconium alloys. The specimens were corroded in superheated steam at 400˚C/10.3 MPa, and in lithiated water with 0.01 M LiOH or in deionized water at 360˚C/18.6 MPa by autoclave testing. Results show that the corrosion resistance increases with the increasing of Bi content dissolved in α-Zr. But the presence of Bi-containing second phase particles (SPPs) is unfavorable for the enhancement of corrosion resistance. This indicates that the Bi dissolved in α-Zr matrix plays an important role in improving the corrosion resistance, while the precipitation of the Bi-containing SPPs does harm to the corrosion resistance.