Zirconium alloy

About: Zirconium alloy is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 6548 publications have been published within this topic receiving 78954 citations. The topic is also known as: zircaloy.

Amorphous iron zirconium formed by solid state reaction

Abstract: We report on the first iron based amorphous alloy formed by the process of solid state reaction. Amorphous iron zirconium was observed to result from thermal anneals of layered crystalline elemental constituents. Starting material was electron beam evaporated with about 50 monolayers of each constituent per layer, which results in an average composition of Fe61Zr39 and a compositional wavelength of 22 nm. Thermal anneals at 623 K were performed in vacuum, and x‐ray diffraction was used to determine the structure. A calculated metastable free energy diagram shows the reaction is driven by a large thermodynamic driving force (several kcal/mole).

The intermetallic zirconium compounds zrnial, zrrhsn, and zrptga : structural distortions and metal-metal bonding in fe2p related compounds

Abstract: ZrNiAl, ZrPtGa, and ZrRhSn have been prepared by reacting the elements in an arc-melting furnace and subsequent annealing at 970 K. These compounds have previously been investigated only by use of X-ray powder data for ZrPtGa and ZrRhSn and single crystal film data for ZrNiAl. Precise single crystal diffractometer data are reported in the present paper. The structure of ZrNiAl is confirmed. It adopts a substitution variant of the Fe2P type: P6̄2m, a = 691.5(2), c = 346.6(1) pm, Z = 3, wR2 = 0.0538, 320 F2 values, 14 parameters. The structure refinement reveals a large displacement parameter U33 for one nickel position, indicative of a slight nickel dislocation. Weak superstructure reflections could be found on Guinier powder patterns for ZrPtGa and ZrRhSn. These compounds crystallize with the HfRhSn type structure (Z = 6 , space group P6̄2c), a superstructure of the Fe2P type: a = 714.5(1), c = 706.3(2) pm, wR2 = 0.0651, 594 F2 values, 18 parameters for ZrPtGa and a = 734.2(2), c = 721.8(2) pm, wR2 = 0.0349, 355 F2 values, 18 parameters for ZrRhSn. Structural motifs of these compounds are transition metal centered trigonal prisms formed by the zirconium, aluminium, gallium, and tin atoms. While these trigonal prisms are regular in ZrNiAl, significant distortions occur in the structures of ZrPtGa and ZrRhSn. Due to the distortions of the trigonal prisms in the superstructures, some platinum and rhodium atoms are dislocated from the subcell mirror planes towards Pt-Pt and Rh-Rh pairs with distances of 310 and 313 pm, respectively. The formation of the superstructure is most likely due to packing reasons. Chemical bonding in ZrRhSn was investigated on the basis of an extended Hückel calculation.

The effect of copper, chromium, and zirconium on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys

Abstract: The present study evaluates the effect of the systematic variation of copper, chromium, and zirconium contents on the microstructure and mechanical properties of a 7000-type aluminum alloy. Fracture toughness and tensile properties are evaluated for each alloy in both the peak aging, T8, and the overaging, T73, conditions. Results show that dimpled rupture essentially characterize the fracture process in these alloys. In the T8 condition, a significant loss of toughness is observed for alloys containing 2.5 pct Cu due to the increase in the quantity of Al-Cu-Mg-rich S-phase particles. An examination of T8 alloys at constant Cu levels shows that Zr-bearing alloys exhibit higher strength and toughness than the Cr-bearing alloys. In the T73 condition, Cr-bearing alloys are inherently tougher than Zr-bearing alloys. A void nucleation and growth mechanism accounts for the loss of toughness in these alloys with increasing copper content.

Studies regarding corrosion mechanisms in zirconium alloys

Abstract: Understanding the key corrosion mechanisms in a light water reactor primary water environment is critical to developing and exploiting improved zirconium alloy fuel cladding. In this paper, we report recent research highlights from a new collaborative research programme involving 3 U.K. universities and 5 partners from the nuclear industry. A major part of our strategy is to use the most advanced analytical tools to characterise the oxide and metal/oxide interface microstructure, residual stresses, as well as the transport properties of the oxide. These techniques include three-dimensional atom probe (3DAP), advanced transmission electron microscopy (TEM), synchrotron X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and in situ electro-impedance spectroscopy. Synchrotron X-ray studies have enabled the characterisation of stresses, tetragonal phase fraction, and texture in the oxide as well as the stresses in the metal substrate. It was found that in the thick oxide (here, Optimized-ZIRLO, a trademark of the Westinghouse Electric Company, tested at 415°C in steam) a significant stress profile can be observed, which cannot be explained by metal substrate creep alone but that local delamination of the oxide layers due to crack formation must also play an important role. It was also found that the oxide stresses in the monoclinic and tetragonal phases grown on Zircaloy-4 (autoclave testing at 360°C) first relax during the pre-transition stage. Just before transition, the compressive stress in the monoclinic phase suddenly rises, which is interpreted as indirect evidence of significant tetragonal to monoclinic phase transformation taking place at this stage. TEM studies of pre- and post-transition oxides grown on ZIRLO, a trademark of the Westinghouse Electric Company, have used Fresnel contrast imaging to identify nano-sized pores along the columnar grain boundaries that form a network interconnected once the material goes through transition. The development of porosity during transition was further confirmed by in situ electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) studies. 3DAP analysis was used to identify a ZrO sub-oxide layer at the metal/oxide interface and to establish its three-dimensional morphology. It was possible to demonstrate that this sub-oxide structure develops with time and changes dramatically around transition. This observation was further confirmed by in situ EIS studies, which also suggest thinning of the sub-oxide/barrier layer around transition. Finally, 3DAP analysis was used to characterise segregation of alloying elements near the metal/oxide interface and to establish that the corroding metal near the interface (in this case ZIRLO) after 100 days at 360°C displays a substantially different chemistry and microstructure compared to the base alloy with Fe segregating to the Zr/ZrO interface.

Mechanical properties of zirconium alloys and zirconium hydrides predicted from density functional perturbation theory.

Abstract: The elastic properties and mechanical stability of zirconium alloys and zirconium hydrides have been investigated within the framework of density functional perturbation theory. Results show that the lowest-energy cubic Pnm polymorph of δ-ZrH1.5 does not satisfy all the Born requirements for mechanical stability, unlike its nearly degenerate tetragonal P42/mcm polymorph. Elastic moduli predicted with the Voigt–Reuss–Hill approximations suggest that mechanical stability of α-Zr, Zr-alloy and Zr-hydride polycrystalline aggregates is limited by the shear modulus. According to both Pugh's and Poisson's ratios, α-Zr, Zr-alloy and Zr-hydride polycrystalline aggregates can be considered ductile. The Debye temperatures predicted for γ-ZrH, δ-ZrH1.5 and e-ZrH2 are θD = 299.7, 415.6 and 356.9 K, respectively, while θD = 273.6, 284.2, 264.1 and 257.1 K for the α-Zr, Zry-4, ZIRLO and M5 matrices, i.e. suggesting that Zry-4 possesses the highest micro-hardness among Zr matrices.