• Title/Summary/Keyword: Zirconium Alloys

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Pulsed laser welding of Zr-1%Nb alloy

  • Elkin, Maxim A.;Kiselev, Alexey S.;Slobodyan, Mikhail S.
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.51 no.3
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    • pp.776-783
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    • 2019
  • Laser welding is usually a more effective method than electron-beam one since a vacuum chamber is not required. It is important for joining Zr-1%Nb (E110) alloy in a manufacturing process of nuclear fuel rods. In the present work, effect of energy parameters of pulsed laser welding on properties of butt joints of sheets with a thickness of 0.5 mm is investigated. The most efficient combination has been found (8-11 J pulse energy, 10-14 ms pulse duration, 780-810 W peak pulse power, 3 Hz pulse frequency, 1.12 mm/s welding speed). The results show that ultimate strength under static loading can not be used as a quality criterion for zirconium alloys welds. Increased shielding gas flow rate does not allow to protect weld metal totally and contributes to defect formation without using special nozzles. Several types of imperfections of the welds have been found, but the major problem is branching microcracks on the surface of the welds. It is difficult to identify the cause of their appearance without additional research on improving the welding zone protection (gas composition and flow rate as well as nozzle configuration) and studying the hydrogen content in the welds.

High Temperature Oxidation of Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3Al Alloy (Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3Al 합금의 고온산화)

  • 우지호;김종성;백종현;이동복
    • Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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    • v.31 no.5
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    • pp.278-285
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    • 1998
  • Alloys of Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3Al(wt%) were oxidized in air between 700 and $900^{\circ}C$. It was found that the oxidation resistance is much better than that of either commercially available pure Ti-6Al-4V(wt%) alloys. The oxide scales were primarily composed of thick Ti-ox-ides which were formed by the inward diffusion of oxygen from the atmosphere. At higher temperatures a thin $\alpha$-$Al_2O_3$ layer was formed on Ti-oxides owing to the outward diffusion of Al from the base alloys. Molybdenum, the noblest metal among the alloy components, was predominantly present behind the oxide-substrate interface. Zirconium, an oxygen active metal, was present at both the oxide layer and the substrate.

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Study on Corrosion Characteristic of New Nb-containing Zr based Alloys for Fuel cladding (Nb 첨가 핵연료피복관용 Zr 신합금의 부식특성 연구)

  • Choe, Byeong-Gwon;Ha, Seung-Won;Jeong, Yong-Hwan
    • Korean Journal of Materials Research
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    • v.11 no.5
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    • pp.405-412
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    • 2001
  • Corrosion tests were carried out in $360^{\circ}C$ water and $360^{\circ}C$ 70ppm LiOH solution to investigate the corrosion behavior of new zirconium alloys (Zr-0.4Nb-0.8Sn-xFeCrMn, Zr-0.2Nb-1.1Sn-xFeCrMn, Zr-1.0Nb-xFeCu). Microstructures of tested alloys were analyzed by optical microscope and TEM. The cross-sectional surface and crystalline structure of the oxide layer were analyzed by SEM and XRD. From the results of corrosion test, all the alloys showed higher corrosion rates in $360^{\circ}C$ 70ppm LiOH aqueous solution thats in $360^{\circ}C$ water. Especially, high Nb-containing alloy exhibited the acceleration of corrosion rate in LiOH solution. The low Nb- and Sn-added alloys showed better corrosion resistance than the Sn- free high Nb alloy. from the effect of final annealing on the corrosion, it was observed that the partially recrystallized alloys showed better corrosion resistance than fully recrystallized alloys. This would be related to the size and distribution of the second phase particles.

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Finite Element Analysis of Pilgering Process of Multi-Metallic Layer Composite Fuel Cladding (다중금속복합층 핵연료 피복관의 필거링 공정에 관한 유한 요소 해석 연구)

  • Kim, Taeyong;Lee, Jeonghyeon;Kim, Ji Hyun
    • Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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    • v.13 no.2
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    • pp.75-83
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    • 2017
  • In severe accident conditions of light water reactors, the loss of coolant may cause problems in integrity of zirconium fuel cladding. Under the condition of the loss of coolant, the zirconium fuel cladding can be exposed to high temperature steam and reacted with them by producing of hydrogen, which is caused by the failure in oxidation resistance of zirconium cladding materials during the loss of coolant accident scenarios. In order to avoid these problems, we develop a multi-metallic layered composite (MMLC) fuel cladding which compromises between the neutronic advantages of zirconium-based alloys and the accident-tolerance of non-zirconium-based metallic materials. Cold pilgering process is a common tube manufacturing process, which is complex material forming operation in highly non-steady state, where the materials undergo a long series of deformation resulting in both diameter and thickness reduction. During the cold pilgering process, MMLC claddings need to reduce the outside diameter and wall thickness. However, multi-layers of the tube are expected to occur different deformation processes because each layer has different mechanical properties. To improve the utilization of the pilgering process, 3-dimensional computational analyses have been made using a finite element modeling technique. We also analyze the dimensional change, strain and stress distribution at MMLC tube by considering the behavior of rolls such as stroke rate and feed rate.

Effect of Aluminum, Manganese, and Zirconium on the Content of Nickel in Molten Magnesium (마그네슘용탕의 니켈 함량에 미치는 알루미늄, 망간 및 지르코늄의 영향)

  • Jeong, Dae-Yeong;Moon, Young-Hoon;Moon, Byoung-Gi;Park, Won-Wook;Sohn, Keun-Yong
    • Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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    • v.35 no.1
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    • pp.8-14
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    • 2015
  • Variations of nickel contents and microstructures in molten magnesium alloys on the addition of aluminum, zirconium, and manganese have been investigated. Specimens were prepared by melting under $SF_6$ and $CO_2$ atmosphere and casting into a disc of 29 mm diameter with 7~10 mm thickness from the melt acquired at the top of crucible. Before casting, the molten metal was stirred for 3 minutes after each addition of alloying elements and maintained for 30 minutes for settling down. Results showed that zirconium did not significantly affect the content of nickel while aluminum remarkably reduced it by forming $Al_3Ni_2$ phase. When manganese are added to Mg-1wt%Ni alloy along with aluminum, both elements remarkably reduced the content of nickel. The addition of 1.5 wt% manganese to Mg-1wt%Ni alloy containing aluminum further reduced the content of nickel by more than 30%, during which an additional intermetallic phase $Al_{10}Mn_3Ni$ was precipitated in the molten magnesium.