• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2018.11a
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• pp.121-122
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• 2018

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2018.11a
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• pp.123-124
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• 2018

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2018.11a
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• pp.125-126
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• 2018

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.140-145
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• 2002

This study was conducted to investigate the brazing characteristics between Zircaloy-4 nuclear fuel cladding tubes and bearing pads with filler metals of amorphous $Zr_{1-x}Be_x$(0.3$\leq$x$\leq$0.5) binary alloy, in which they were produced in the ribbon form by the melt-spinning metod. The crystallization behavior, stability, hardness and micro-structure of brazed zone were examined by X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, micro-Vickers hardness test, optical microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. $Zr_{1-x}Be_x$(0.3$\leq$x$\leq$0.4) amorphous alloys were crystallized to $\alpha$-Zr with increasing the temperature, and the rest were transformed to ZrBe$_2$at higher temperatures. On the other hand, $Zr_{1-x}Be_x$(0.4$\leq$x$\leq$0.5) amorphous alloys were crystallized to $\alpha$-Zr and ZrBe$_2$, simultaneously. The thickness of the layer brazed with amorphous alloy was increased with increasing the beryllium content due to the higher diffusion of Be. The morphology of brazed layer with PVD Be filler metal showed dendrite while that brazed with amorphous alloys appeared globular. Micro-Vickers hardness of brazed zone increased as the beryllium content of filler metal was decreased.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.163-170
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• 2009

In order to evaluate high-temperature oxidation behavior of the advanced alloy cladding under LOCA conditions, isothermal oxidation tests in steam were performed with cladding specimens prepared from high burnup PWR fuel rods that were irradiated up to 79 MWd/kg. Cladding materials were $M5^{(R)}$ and $ZIRLO^{TM}$, which are Nb-containing alloys. Ring-shaped specimens were isothermally oxidized in flowing steam at temperatures from 1173 to 1473 K for the duration between 120 and 4000s. Oxidation rates were evaluated from measured oxide layer thickness and weight gain. A protective effect of the preformed corrosion layer is seen for the shorter time range at the lower temperatures. The influence of pre-hydriding is not significant for the examined range. Alloy composition change generally has small influence on oxidation in the examined temperature range, though $M5^{(R)}$ shows an obviously smaller oxidation constant at 1273 K. Consequently, the oxidation rates of the high burnup $M5^{(R)}$ and $ZIRLO^{TM}$ cladding are comparable or lower than that of unirradiated Zircaloy-4 cladding.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.65-72
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• 1978

In this paper, it is attempted to investigate the phenomena of iodine stress corrosion cracking of Zircaloy-4 cladding failures in reactor through the results of similar out-of-pile test in iodine vapour. The main result of this experiment is a finding of the relation between the threshold stress which can lead to iodine stress corrosion cracking of Zircaloy-4 tube and the iodine concentration. The values of critical stress and the critical iodine concentration are also obtained. A model which relates failure time of Zircaley-4 tube to failure stress and iodine concentration is suggested as follows: log t$_{F}$ =5.5-(3/2)log$_{c}$-4log $\sigma$ where t$_{F}$ : failure time, minutes c: iodne concentration, mg/㎤ $\sigma$: stress, 10$^4$psi.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.113-119
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• 2006

Brazing is an important manufacturing process in the fabrication of Heavy Water Reactor fuel rods, in which bearing and spacer pads are joined to Zircaloy-4 cladding tubes. The physical vapor deposition(PVD) technique is currently used to deposit metallic Be on the surfaces of pads as a filler metal. Amorphous Zr-Be binary alloys which are manufactured by rapid solidification process are under developing to substitute the conventional PVD-Be coating. In the present study, brazed joint with PVD and amorphous alloys of $Zr_{1-x}Be_{x}(0.3{\le}x{\le}0.5)$ as filler metals are compared by mechanism, microstructure and hardness. The thickness of brazed joint with amorphous alloys became much smaller than that of PVD-Be. The erosion of base metal did not occur in the brazed joint with amorphous alloys. The brazing mechanism for PVD-Be seems to be Be diffusion into Zr-4 with capillary action resulting from eutectic reaction while that for amorphous alloys are associated with the liquid phase formation in the brazed joint. The brazed joint microstructure with PVD-Be consists of dendrite while that with amorphous alloys is globular. The $Zr_{0.7}Be_{0.3}$ alloy shows the smooth interface with little erosion in the base metal and is recommended a most suitable brazing filler metal for Zircaloy-4.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1999.05a
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• pp.279-279
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• 1999

To improve the corrosion model of the fuel performance analysis code COSMOS, a model was developed considering thermohydraulic phenomena and the effect of water chemistry and low Sn in the alloy composition on the corrosion behavior. It is assumed that the lithium enhancement factor influences the corrosion behavior only if the subcooled void is present in the coolant. The developed model was verified with the database obtained from Grohnde and Ringhals 3 reactors. Comparison of predicted oxide thickness with measured data showed the applicability of COSMOS code to analyze the cladding oxidation. In the future, the effect of the hydride in the cladding and the precipitate changes due to irradiation should be included.cluded.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.19-26
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• 2001

The wear characteristic of Zircaloy-4 tube, which is used for a cladding of light water reactor fuel rod, is investigated experimentally. The experiment is conducted with contacting the crossed tube specimens in air as well as in water at room temperature with various combination of contact normal force and sliding distance of reciprocating motion. The contour and the volume of each wear are examined to study the effect of contact condition and environment on wear. As a result, it is found that the wear volume in the water environment is larger than that in the air for all the contact (i.e., force and sliding distance) conditions. However, the wear depth is greater in air than in water if the contact normal force and the sliding distance are larger. These are explained by the ease of detachment of wear particles from the contact surface. On the other hand, workrate model is applied with the contact shear force range measured by our wear tester. Investigated is the correlation between the workrate and the wear volume increase rate of the present experiment. The parabolic curve is found to fit well for the present wear data.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.14 no.7
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• pp.451-456
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• 2004

Thermal creep properties of the zirconium tube which was developed for high burnup application were evaluated. The creep test of cladding tubes after various final heat treatment was carried out by the internal pressurization method in the temperature range from $350^{\circ}C to 400^{\circ}C$ and from 100 to 150 MPa in the hoop stress. Creep tests were lasted up to 900days, which showed the steady-state secondary creep rate. The creep resistance of zirconium claddings was higher than that of Zircaloy-4. Factors that affect creep resistance, such as final annealing temperature, applied stress and alloying element were discussed. Tin as an alloying element was more effective than niobium due to solute hardening effect of tin. In case of advanced claddings, the optimization of final heat treatment temperature as well as alloying element causes a great influence on the improvement of creep resistance.