Effect of in-PWR irradiation on size, structure, and composition of intermetallic precipitates of Zr alloys
- Siemens AG, Erlangen (Germany). Power Generation Group
- Inst. for Transuranium Elements, Karlsruhe (Germany)
The corrosion behavior of Zr alloys depends on the kind, size, and distribution of the intermetallic second-phase particles. TEM examinations of Zr-Sn-Fe-Cr alloys irradiated in PWRs at temperatures between 300 and 370 C and fast fluences in the range of 5E21 to 1.3E22 cm{sup {minus}2} have been performed to study the irradiation-induced effects on the precipitates. The alloys contained different types of second-phase particles such as Zr(Fe,Cr){sub 2}, Zr{sub 2}(Fe,Si), and Zr{sub 3}Fe before irradiation. The influence of irradiation was found to depend on temperature and type of second-phase particles. In Fe-containing Sr alloys with little or no Cr, rather large Zr{sub 3}Fe precipitates are the most frequent particles. These particles are not dissolved by irradiation even at low temperatures. This was confirmed by annealing after irradiation. As a hypothesis, it was assumed that the different behavior of the various precipitates can be related to their melting or decomposition temperatures by using the homologous temperature (i.e., the temperature under consideration in K normalized to the melting or decomposition temperature in K). This interrelationship has been found to apply for irradiation-induced amorphization. The empirical approach to describe the thermal ripening behavior of second-phase particles before irradiation and to describe the transition from irradiation-induced dissolution to irradiation-induced growth by a normalized (homologous) temperature led to reasonable results.
- OSTI ID:
- 479452
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-950926--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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