Improving Ductility of Hydride Embrittled Zirconium (Final Report)

Technical Report · Sat Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/2203117· OSTI ID:2203117

Bair, Jacob L. ^[1]; Abrecht, David G. ^[2]; Overman, Nicole R. ^[2]; Guzman, Anthony D. ^[2]; Collins, David A. ^[2]; Cox, Richard M. ^[2]; Riechers, Shawn L. ^[2]

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1. Oklahoma State Univ., Stillwater, OK (United States); Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
2. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

One of the main limiting factors on the lifetimes of nuclear fuel rod claddings is the formation of hydrides and associated detrimental effects on mechanical properties. In this study, we examined the behavior of hydrides in zirconium and zircaloy-4 after tensile stress is applied to determine whether the more ductile γ-ZrH phase was stabilized by the mechanical stress. We did not find a significant increase in the ratio of γ-ZrH phase to δ-ZrH1.5 phases after tensile stress is applied in previously hydrided metals. Previous reports indicate that this stabilization does occur when zircaloy is stressed and hydrided simultaneously, indicating that the formation of the γ-ZrH phase may reverse upon relaxation or may require the stress in-situ during the hydriding process to form in significant quantities.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 2203117
• Report Number(s): PNNL--30487
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
42 ENGINEERING
Atomic Force Microscopy
Hydrogen
Scanning Electron Microscopy
Tensile Properties
Zirconium
Zirconium Hydride