Microstructure and nodular corrosion of Zircaloy-2

Technical Report · Sun Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1991

OSTI ID:5251490

Kruger, R M ^[1]

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1. General Electric Co., San Jose, CA (United States)

The susceptibility of Zircaloy-2 to nodular corrosion in steam at 520{degree}C is dependent on the processing history of the material. In this study, a single Zircaloy-2 material was examined following four different processing schedules, including (1) air-cooling from the beta state followed by two rounds of cold-work and annealing, (2) air-cooling from the beta state followed by three rounds of cold-work and annealing, (3) water-quenching followed by two round of cold-work and annealing, and (4) water-quenching followed by three rounds of cold-work and annealing. Of these, schedule 2 led to high-nodular corrosion, while the others were distinguished mainly by varying degrees of corrosion at the specimen edges. The materials were examined by optical microscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, and secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) in order to determine if a correlation could be made between the microstructure of the material and nodular corrosion. No simple correlation was found, in that no unique aspect of the microstructure was found for schedule 2. It yielded relatively large precipitates and a high value for the texture parameter fn, but schedule 1 yielded identical precipitates and schedule 4 yielded an identical texture. SIMS data at a relatively high sputter rate indicated that the spacial variations in Cr, Fe, and Ni of schedule 2 were higher than for schedule 3, but the data are not conclusive. 20 refs., 14 figs., 3 tabs.

• Research Organization: Electric Power Research Inst., Palo Alto, CA (United States); General Electric Co., San Jose, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: EPRI; Electric Power Research Inst., Palo Alto, CA (United States)
• OSTI ID: 5251490
• Report Number(s): EPRI-NP-7470
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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