Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Hydrogen permeation in iron-chromium-aluminum (FeCrAl) alloys and the effects of microstructure and surface oxide

Journal Article · · Journal of Nuclear Materials
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [4]
  1. Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States)
  2. Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
  3. Missouri Univ. of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO (United States)
  4. Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Iron–chromium–aluminum (FeCrAl) class alloys are candidates for use as cladding for accident-tolerant fuels and moderators. In this context, hydrogen isotope permeation in FeCrAl alloys is an important material property. Here, in the present work, the apparent permeability, effective diffusivity, and apparent solubility of hydrogen in the FeCrAl alloys C26M and Kanthal D (KD) were measured with gas-driven hydrogen permeation. Permeation measurements were conducted at temperatures of 400 to 700 °C and at gas-driven pressures from 1 to 100 kPa. In particular, the effect of grain size on hydrogen transport was studied with KD samples with three different microstructures: nanocrystalline (NC), ultra-fine grained (UFG), and coarse-grained (CG). The UFG and NC specimens had higher apparent activation energies (73.4 kJ mol-1 and 65.2 kJ mol-1, respectively) for hydrogen permeability than the CG sample (46.9 kJ mol-1). An aluminum oxide layer formed on the primary- and secondary-side surfaces of all samples subjected to permeation experiments which demonstrated the propensity of FeCrAl alloys to form these innate oxide permeation barriers.
Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE); USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE), Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies (NEET)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725; AC07-05ID14517; NE0008524
OSTI ID:
2479023
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 2447008
Journal Information:
Journal of Nuclear Materials, Journal Name: Journal of Nuclear Materials Vol. 603; ISSN 0022-3115
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (41)

Comparison of the Thermal Stability in Equal‐Channel‐Angular‐Pressed and High‐Pressure‐Torsion‐Processed Fe–21Cr–5Al Alloy journal September 2023
Ion sputter rates and yields for iron-, chromium- and aluminium oxide layers journal September 1994
Hydrogen Isotopes Permeation in Clean or Unoxidized FeCrAl Alloys: A Review journal January 2022
Hydrogen trapping models in steel journal December 2000
Necessity of a palladium coating to ensure hydrogen oxidation during electrochemical permeation measurements on iron journal May 1995
The rate of hydrogen release out of clean metallic surfaces journal September 1978
Hydrogen permeation characteristics of aluminum-coated and aluminum-modified steels journal January 1980
Hydrogen in 304 steel: Diffusion, permeation and surface reaction journal July 1987
Hydrogen in 316 steel — diffusion, permeation and surface reaction journal May 1988
Hydrogen Diffusion in Metals book January 1975
Bulk nanostructured materials from severe plastic deformation journal March 2000
Hydrogen embrittlement mechanisms in advanced high strength steel journal January 2022
First-principles study of hydrogen trapping and diffusion at grain boundaries in γ-Fe journal January 2021
Deuterium permeability and diffusivity in FeCrAl alloys for LWR cladding application journal May 2022
Model-based interpretation of thermal desorption spectra of Fe-C-Ti alloys journal June 2019
Microstructural based hydrogen diffusion and trapping models applied to Fe–C X alloys journal June 2020
Acceleration of Pd-V intermetallic diffusion by hydrogen journal January 2024
Hydrogen transport and trapping in EUROFER’97 journal August 2007
Influence of the Cr content on the permeation of hydrogen in Fe alloys journal November 2013
Advanced oxidation-resistant iron-based alloys for LWR fuel cladding journal May 2014
Hydrogen permeation in FeCrAl alloys for LWR cladding application journal June 2015
Studies on oxidation and deuterium permeation behavior of a low temperature α-Al2O3-forming Fe Cr Al ferritic steel journal August 2016
Mechanical failure of fresh nuclear grade iron–chromium–aluminum (FeCrAl) cladding under simulated hot zero power reactivity initiated accident conditions journal October 2020
Burst characteristics of advanced accident-tolerant FeCrAl cladding under temperature transient testing journal March 2022
Hydrogen and deuterium permeation in Hastelloy N journal February 2024
Severe plastic deformation assisted carbide precipitation in Fe-21Cr-5Al alloy journal October 2019
Surface effects on deuterium permeation through vanadium membranes journal February 2021
Fatigue design factors for ECAPed materials journal December 2010
Characterization of stress-rupture behavior of nuclear-grade C26M2 FeCrAl alloy for accident-tolerant fuel cladding via burst testing journal July 2020
Principles of equal-channel angular pressing as a processing tool for grain refinement journal September 2006
Using high-pressure torsion for metal processing: Fundamentals and applications journal August 2008
Precipitation of α′ in neutron irradiated commercial FeCrAl alloys journal January 2018
HyPAT: A GUI for high-throughput gas-driven hydrogen permeation data analysis journal February 2023
Hydrogen Permeation and Absorption Tool (HyPAT v2.0): An update to facilitate analyses of data from hydrogen absorption experiments journal July 2023
Effect of microscopic parameters on EBSD spatial resolution journal August 2011
Cluster Analysis of Combined EDS and EBSD Data to Solve Ambiguous Phase Identifications journal March 2022
Considerations for Hydride Moderator Readiness in Microreactors journal October 2022
High temperature deuterium enrichment using TiC coated vanadium membranes journal March 2019
Diffusion und Löslichkeit von Wasserstoff in a-Eisen und Silber journal May 1958
Hydrogen Permeation through Iron, Nickel, and Heat Resisting Alloys at Elevated Temperatures journal January 1978
Hydrogen Permeation Through Metals, Alloys and Oxides at Elevated Temperatures journal September 1960

Similar Records

Influence of grain size on α' Cr precipitation in an isothermally aged Fe-21Cr-5Al alloy
Journal Article · Thu Feb 29 19:00:00 EST 2024 · Materialia · OSTI ID:2438708

Hydrogen permeation in FeCrAl alloys for LWR cladding application
Journal Article · Wed Mar 18 20:00:00 EDT 2015 · Journal of Nuclear Materials · OSTI ID:1185774

Degradation and Failure Phenomena of Accident Tolerant Fuel Concepts: FeCrAl Alloy Cladding
Technical Report · Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 2020 · OSTI ID:1984686