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High-Fluence Irradiation Growth of Zirconium Alloys at 644 to 725 K

Tucker, RP
Principal engineer and manager,Core Materials Testing and Analysis, General Electric Co., Vallecitos Nuclear Center,Calif.,

Fidleris, V
Senior research officer,Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., Research Co., Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories,Ont.,

Adamson, RB
Principal engineer and manager,Core Materials Testing and Analysis, General Electric Co., Vallecitos Nuclear Center,Calif.,


Pages: 23    Published: Jan 1984


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Source: STP824-EB


Abstract

Irradiation growth behavior of zirconium, Zircaloy-2 and Zircaloy-4,Zr-2.5Nb, and Zr-3.5Sn-0.8Mo-0.8Nb (EXCEL) was studied on specimens irradiated in the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) to fluences of 1.2 to 16.9 × 1025 neutrons (n)·m−2 (E > 1 MeV) in the temperature range 644 to 725 K. In Zircaloy, growth and growth rate were observed to increase continuously with fluence up to 16.9 × 1025 n·m−2 with no indication of saturation in either recrystallized or cold-worked materials. Positive growth strains of 1.5% and negative strains of approximately 2% to 2.5% were observed in both recrystallized and cold-worked Zircaloy. The formation of both a-type loops and c component dislocations is recrystallized Zircaloy under irradiation appears to be the basis in this material for growth strains similar in magnitude to those in cold-worked Zircaloy. Alloy additions to zirconium can increase growth by as much as an order of magnitude for a given texture at the higher irradiation temperatures and fluences. A sharp change to increasing growth rate with temperature occurs in Zircaloy at ∼670 K, with a similar trend indicated for the other alloys. Although growth in all these alloys is a strong function of crystallographic texture, an exact (1–3f) type of dependence is not always apparent. In Zr-2.5Nb the dependence of growth on texture appears to be masked by the precipitation of betaniobium, with a transition to a well-defined texture dependence being a function of fluence and temperature. Significant differences in growth behavior were observed in nominally similar Zircaloys, apparently due to minor microstructural or chemical differences.


Keywords:
zirconium, zirconium alloys, nuclear industry, irradiation growth, recrystallized, cold-worked, neutron irradiation, temperature, fluence, texture, microstructure, dislocations, volume change

Paper ID: STP34484S
Committee/Subcommittee: B10.02
DOI: 10.1520/STP34484S
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