Precipitate stability in Zircaloy-2

Technical Report · Tue May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1990

OSTI ID:7126748

Kruger, R M ^[1]

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1. General Electric Co., San Jose, CA (USA)

As a follow-up to previous work on Zircaloy-4, irradiated Zircaloy-2 was studied both with and without post-irradiation annealing. The Zircaloy-2 samples were taken from a BWR water-rod at locations with fluences of 2.9 {times} 10{sup 21}, 7.7 {times} 10{sup 21}, and 12.0 {times} 10{sup 21} n/cm{sup 2} (E > 1 MeV), all having irradiation temperatures of 288{degree}C. Material from these samples demonstrated irradiation induced phenomena quite similar to Zircaloy-4, including the gradual amorphization and dissolution of Zr(Cr, FE){sub 2} precipitates and the development of {bar c}-component dislocations. Zr{sub 2} (Fe,Ni) precipitates in the Zircaloy-2 did not show signs of amorphization, but show a small degree of Fe depletion with increasing fluence. The depletion of iron was reversed upon post-irradiation annealing at 575 to 750{degree}C in both types of precipitates. Post-irradiation annealing caused intergranular precipitates to form. At 575{degree}C, both intergranular Zr{sub 2} (Fe,Ni) and Zr(Cr,Fe){sub 2} were found, while at 625 and 6675{degree}C, only the latter appeared. This is probably a consequence of the faster ripening of Zr{sub 2} (Fe,Ni). No intergranular precipitates were found after 1 hour at 750{degree}C, which is probably due to their dissolution during ripening. 29 refs., 21 figs., 4 tabs.

• Research Organization: Electric Power Research Inst., Palo Alto, CA (USA); General Electric Co., San Jose, CA (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: EPRI
• OSTI ID: 7126748
• Report Number(s): EPRI-NP-6845-D
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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ALLOY-ZR98SN-2
ALLOY-ZR98SN-4
ALLOYS
AMORPHOUS STATE
ANNEALING
CHROMIUM ADDITIONS
CHROMIUM ALLOYS
CORROSION RESISTANT ALLOYS
CRYSTAL DEFECTS
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
DISLOCATIONS
HARDNESS
HEAT RESISTANT MATERIALS
HEAT RESISTING ALLOYS
HEAT TREATMENTS
IRON ADDITIONS
IRON ALLOYS
LINE DEFECTS
MATERIALS
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
MICROSTRUCTURE
NEUTRON FLUENCE
NICKEL ADDITIONS
NICKEL ALLOYS
PHYSICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
PRECIPITATION
RADIATION EFFECTS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
TIN ALLOYS
ZIRCALOY
ZIRCALOY 2
ZIRCALOY 4
ZIRCONIUM ALLOY
ZIRCONIUM ALLOYS
ZIRCONIUM BASE ALLOYS