Microstructural evolution of Q12{sup TM} alloy irradiated in PWRs and comparison with other Zr base alloys - 2016-0061

Conference · Fri Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1520/STP159720160061· OSTI ID:22788418

Doriot, Sylvie ^[1]; Verhaeghe, Benedicte; Soniak-Defresne, Annie; Bossis, Philippe ^[2]; Gilbon, Didier ^[3]; Chabretou, Valerie; Mardon, Jean-Paul ^[4]; Ton-That, Marc ^[5]; Ambard, Antoine ^[6]

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1. 1CEA, Universite Paris-Saclay, DEN, Service de Recherches Metallurgiques Appliquees, Gif-sur-Yvette, F-91191 (France)
2. CEA, Universite Paris Saclay, DEN, Service d'Etude des Materiaux Irradies, Gif-sur-Yvette, F-91191 (France)
3. CEA, Universite Paris-Saclay, DEN, Departement des Materiaux pour le Nucleaire, Gif-sur-Yvette, F-91191 (France)
4. AREVA NP, Fuel Business Unit, 10 rue Juliette Recamier, Lyon Cedex 06, 69456 (France)
5. Electricite de France, DIN Septen, 12-14 Avenue Dutrievoz, Villeurbanne Cedex, 69628 (France)
6. Electricite de France, R and D Division, Materials and Mechanics of Components, Les Renardieres, Moret sur Loing, Cedex, 77818 (France)

Based on the M5{sup R}* alloy metallurgy, the Q12{sup TM} alloy (Zr-1Nb-0.5Sn-0.1Fe) was developed by AREVA NP for structural components, with ultra-low tin addition and slightly increased iron content. The behavior of this alloy was tested under irradiation in a pressurized water reactor (PWR) and has shown improvement in irradiation creep strength and similar free growth compared with M5. This paper provides results on dimensional stability and details the microstructural evolution of the Q12 alloy under neutron irradiation in PWRs. The Q12 microstructural evolution under irradiation was studied for fast neutron fluences up to 13 X 10{sup 25} n/m{sup 2} (E>1 MeV) with analytical transmission electron microscopy observations. We focused on radiation-enhanced needle-like particles, Laves phases, and the linear density of -component loops. These results are compared with other quaternary zirconium-niobium-tin-iron alloys and with M5. All these results allow a general discussion about microstructural evolution and behavior under irradiation of quaternary-type alloys compared to M5 alloy. This study, in agreement with previous works on Zr-1Nb and quaternary alloys, seems to show that increasing the iron content with the presence of niobium and tin will decrease the -component loop linear density and delay the growth breakaway. (authors)

• Research Organization: ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, P.O. Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA, 19428-2959 (United States)
• OSTI ID: 22788418
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
CREEP
CRYSTAL GROWTH
DENSITY
FAST NEUTRONS
IRON
IRON ALLOYS
IRRADIATION
LAVES PHASES
METALLURGY
MICROSTRUCTURE
NEUTRON FLUENCE
NIOBIUM
PARTICLES
PWR TYPE REACTORS
QUATERNARY ALLOY SYSTEMS
TIN ADDITIONS
TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
ZIRCONIUM
ZIRCONIUM ALLOYS