• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.18 no.6
• /
• pp.326-333
• /
• 2008

Since the 1990s, the second generation of Zirconium alloys containing main alloy compositions of Nb, Sn and Fe have been used as a replacement of Zircaloy-4 (Zr-Sn-Fe-Cr), a first-generation Zirconium alloy, to meet severe and rigorous reactor operating conditions characterized by high-burn-up, high-power and high-pH operations. In this study, the mechanical properties and creep behaviors of Zr-Sn-Fe-Cr and Zr-Nb-Sn-Fe alloys were investigated in a temperature range of $450{\sim}500^{\circ}C$ and in a stress range of $80{\sim}150\;MPa$. The mechanical testing results indicate that the yield and tensile strengths of the Zr-Nb-Sn-Fe alloy are slightly higher compared to those of Zr-Sn-Fe-Cr. This can be explained by the second phase strengthening of the $\beta$-Nb precipitates. The creep test results indicate that the stress exponent for the steady-state creep rate decreases with the increase in the applied stress. However, the stress exponent of the Zr-Sn-Fe-Cr alloy is lower than that of the Zr-Nb-Sn-Fe alloy in a relatively high stress range, whereas the creep activation energy of the former is slightly higher than that of the latter. This can be explained by the dynamic deformation aging effect caused by the interaction of dislocations with Sn substitutional atoms. A higher Sn content leads to a lower stress exponent value and higher creep activation energy.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
• /
• v.2 no.2
• /
• pp.68-74
• /
• 2003

The effects of Niobium on the structure and properties(especially electric properties) of passive film of Zirconium alloys in pH 8.5 buffer solution are examined by the photo-electrochemical analysis. For Zr-xNb alloys (x = 0, 0.45, 1.5, 2.5 wt%), photocurrent began to increase at the incident energy of 3.5 ~ 3.7 eV and exhibited the $1^{st}$ peak at 4.3 eV and the $2^{nd}$ peak at 5.7 eV. From $(i_{ph}hv)^{1/2}$ vs. hv plot, indirect band gap energies $E_g{^1}$= 3.01~3.47 eV, $E_g{^2}$= 4.44~4.91 eV were obtained. With increasing Nb content, the relative photocurrent intensity of $1^{st}$ peak significantly increased. Compared with photocurrent spectrum of thermal oxide of Zr-2.5Nb, It was revealed that $1^{st}$ peak in photocurrent spectrum for the passive film formed on Zr-Nb alloy was generated by two types of electron transitions; the one caused by hydrous $ZrO_2$ and the other created by Nb. Two electron transition sources were overlapped over the same range of incident photon energy. In the photocurrent spectrum for passive film formed on Zr-2.5Nb alloy in which Nb is dissolved into matrix by quenching, the relative photocurrent intensity of $1^{st}$ peak increased, which implies that dissolved Nb act as another electron transition source.

• Journal of Powder Materials
• /
• v.28 no.4
• /
• pp.317-324
• /
• 2021

High-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steels show excellent toughness when trace amounts of transition elements are added. In steels, prior austenite grain size (PAGS), which is often determined by the number of added elements, is a critical factor in determining the mechanical properties of the material. In this study, we used two etching methods to measure and compare the PAGS of specimens with bainitic HSLA steels having different Nb contents These two methods were nital etching and picric acid etching. Both methods confirmed that the sample with high Nb content exhibited smaller PAGS than its low Nb counterpart because of Nb's ability to hinder austenite recrystallization at high temperatures. Although both etching approaches are beneficial to PAGS estimation, the picric acid etching method has the advantage of enabling observation of the interface containing Nb precipitate. By contrast, the nital etching method has the advantage of a very short etching time (5 s) in determining the PAGS, with the picric acid etching method being considerably longer (5 h).

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
• /
• v.18 no.5
• /
• pp.488-493
• /
• 1998

Commercially pure titanium(cp-Ti) and Ti-15wt%Zr-4wt%Nb-4wt%Ta alloy were melted in vacuum induction furnace. According to the chemical analysis, the content of carbon was above ASTM standard in the cast ingots because of using graphite crucible. The TEM micostructures of cp-Ti and Ti alloy shows that chemically stable TiC precipitates distribute in ${\alpha}-Ti$ matrix. In order to examine the properties of cp-Ti and Ti-Zr-Nb-Ta alloy for dental applications, mechanical properties and corrosion resistance were investigated. The anodic polarization properties of Ti-Zr-Nb-Zr alloy were almost same as that of cp-Ti in 1% lactic acid. However, as the results of the anodic polarization test in 5% HCl, it was known that Ti-Zr-Nb-Zr alloy showed a rapid decrease in current density at higher potential in comparison with cp-Ti. The yield stress and tensile strengh in Ti-Zr-Nb-Ta were ${\sigma}_{0.2}=623\;MPa$, ${\sigma}_{T.S.}=708\;MPa$ and these results showed 30% increase in yield stress in comparison with cp-Ti.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
• /
• v.37 no.5
• /
• pp.491-496
• /
• 2000

Single phae Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-based solid solutions, the Mg2+ of which are replaced by 20mol% of Ni2+, Zn2+, Cd2+, and the Pb2+ of which are replaced by 0∼20 mol% of La3+, were synthesized and their ordering structures of B-site cations were investigated by XRD and TEM. The B'-site cations (Mg2+, Ni2+, Zn2+, Cd2+) are disordered while these B'-site cations and the B"-site cations (Nb5+) are nonstoichiometrically 1:1 ordered within the ordered nano-domains dispersed in the Nb5+-rich disordered matrix. The charge imbalance between the B'-rich ordered nano-domains and the B"-rich disordered matrix are compensated by the doping of electron donor such as La3+, which enhances the degree of nonstoichiometric 1:1 ordering. For a given La3+ content, the degree of nonstoichiometric 1:1 ordering increases as the average ionic size difference between the B'-and B"-site cations increases, Ni2+

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
• /
• v.32 no.3
• /
• pp.305-312
• /
• 1995

Thin films of Pb(Mg, Zn)1/3Nb2/3O3 were fabricated by spin coating the Pb-Mg-Zn-Nb-O complex alkoxide sols on(111) Pt-coated MgO (100) planes. It was observed that the content of H2O and the rheological characteristics of sol greatly influenced the orientation of perovskite grains after thin-film formation. A strong preferential orientation of (100)-type planes of the perovskite grains was obtained for the sol aged for 15 days with the molar ratio of H2O to total metal alkoxides=2. As small angle X-ray scattering experiment in the Porod region was performed to correlate the observed preferential orientation with the network structure of precursors at various stage of aging. It was shown that the degree of branching of the Pb-Mg-Zn-Nb-O precursor chain had a direct effect on the preferred oreintation, and weakly branched precursor systems led to highly oriented grains after thin-film formation.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.8 no.11
• /
• pp.1043-1047
• /
• 1998

The effect of CuO and CdO addition on the microwave dielectric properties of $BiNbO_4$, ceramics were investigated. As the content of CdO increased, sintered density and quality factor decreased. With increasing sintering temperature, both the dielectric constant and quality factor increased. In the case of specimen sintered at $960^{\circ}C$ with addition of 0.03 wt% of CuO and CdO, respectively. the microwave dielectric properties obtained were dielectric constant of 41.2, quality factor ($Q{\times}f_0$) of 6,500 (at 5.6GHz), temperature coefficient of resonant frequency of $3ppm^{\circ}C$.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
• /
• 1994.11a
• /
• pp.8-12
• /
• 1994

Solid solutions $Sr_2$($Ta_{1-x}$$Nb_{x}$)$_2$$O_{7}$ (x = 0.0 - 1.0) composed of strontium-tantalate (low Curie temperature) and strontium-niobate (high Curie temperature) were prepared by the conventional mixed oxide method and the molten salt synthesis method (flux method). Phase relation, sintering temperature, grain-orientation and dielectric properties were investigated for sintered ceramic samples with different compositions. Both Curie temperature and dielectric constant at Curie temperature were increased, and sintering behavior and the degree of grain-orientation were improved with the increase of Nb content. Single phase $Sr_2$$Nb_2$$O_{7}$ powder was synthesized by using flux method at lower temperatures, and sintering temperature was also reduced by using flux method derived powder than using mixed-oxide derived powder. Sintering characteristics and dielectric properties of specimens prepared by flux method were better than those derived through the conventional method.

• Electrical & Electronic Materials
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.158-164
• /
• 1995

Solid solutions Sr$_{2}$(Ta$_{1-x}$ Nb$_{x}$)$_{2}$O$_{7}$, (x=0.0-1.0), composed of strontium tantalate(Tc=-107.deg. C) and strontium-niobate(Tc=1342.deg. C) were prepared by the conventional mixed oxide method and the flux method(molten salt synthesis method). Phase relation, sintering temperature, grain-orientation and dielectric properties for sintered ceramic samples were investigated with different compositions. Both Curie temperature and dielectric constant at Curie temperature were increased, and sintering behavior and the degree of grain-orientation were improved with the increase of Nb content. The single phase Sr$_{2}$(Ta/sib 1-x/Nb$_{x}$)$_{2}$O$_{7}$ powder was synthesized by using the flux method at lower temperatures, and sintering temperature was also reduced by using the flux method-derived powder than using the mixed oxide-derived powder. Sintering characteristics and dielectric properties of the specimens prepared by the flux method were better than those derived through the conventional mixed oxide method.thod.hod.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
• /
• 2015.05a
• /
• pp.112-112
• /
• 2015

The purposed of this work was to determine nanotube shape variation on the Ti-xNb alloys with alloying elements and applied potentials. Samples were prepared by arc melting, followed by followed by homogenization for 12 hr at $1000^{\circ}C$ in argon atmosphere. This study was evaluated the phase and microstructure of Ti-xNb alloys using an X-ray diffraction (XRD) and optical microscopy (OM). The morphology of the samples was investigated with a field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The nanotube on the alloy surface was formed in 1 M $H_3PO_4$ with small additions of NaF 0.8 wt.%. All anodization treatments were carried out using a scanning potentiostat (Model 362, EG&G, USA) at constant voltage 30 V for 120 min, respectively. The morphology of the samples was investigated with a field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Surface characteristics of nanotbue formed on Ti-xNb alloys was investigated by potentiodynamic test and potentiostatic in 0.9% NaCl solution at $36.5{\pm}1^{\circ}C$. It was observed that the changed ${\alpha}$ phase to ${\beta}$ phase with Nb content.