Nuclear Engineering and Technology

Korean Nuclear Society (한국원자력학회)
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Temperature-dependent axial mechanical properties of Zircaloy-4 with various hydrogen amounts and hydride orientations

  • Bang, Shinhyo (Department of Nuclear Engineering, Seoul National University) ;
  • Kim, Ho-a (Department of Nuclear Engineering, Hanyang University) ;
  • Noh, Jae-soo (Atomic Creative Technology Co., Ltd.) ;
  • Kim, Donguk (Department of Nuclear Engineering, Seoul National University) ;
  • Keum, Kyunghwan (Department of Nuclear Engineering, Seoul National University) ;
  • Lee, Youho (Department of Nuclear Engineering, Seoul National University)
  • Received : 2021.07.29
  • Accepted : 2021.11.07
  • Published : 2022.05.25
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Abstract

The effects of hydride amount (20-850 wppm), orientation (circumferential and radial), and temperature (room temperature, 100 ℃, 200 ℃) on the axial mechanical properties of Zircaloy-4 cladding were comprehensively examined. The fraction of radial hydride fraction in the cladding was quantified using PROPHET, an in-house radial hydride fraction analysis code. Uniaxial tensile tests (UTTs) were conducted at various temperatures to obtain the axial mechanical properties. Hydride orientation has a limited effect on the axial mechanical behavior of hydrided Zircaloy-4 cladding. Ultimate tensile stress (UTS) and associated uniform elongation demonstrated limited sensitivity to hydride content under UTT. Statistical uncertainty of UTS was found small, supporting the deterministic approach for the load-failure analysis of hydrided Zircaloy-4 cladding. These properties notably decrease with increasing temperature in the tested range. The dependence of yield strength on hydrogen content differed from temperature to temperature. The ductility-related parameters, such as total elongation, strain energy density (SED), and offset strain decrease with increasing hydride contents. The abrupt loss of ductility in UTT was found at ~700 wppm. Demonstrating a strong correlation between total elongation and offset strain, SED can be used as a comprehensive measure of ductility of hydrided zirconium alloy.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP), the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy (MOTIE) (No. 20181710201770), and the Nuclear Safety Security Commission (NSSC) of the Republic of Korea (No. 2003018).

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