• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.161-167
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• 2011

The stress-strain responses and oxidation properties of cold-rolled Zr-1.5Nb-O and Zr-1.5Nb-O-S alloys were studied. The U.T.S. (ultimate tensile strength) of cold-rolled Zr-1.5Nb-O-S alloy with 160 ppm sulfur (765 MPa) were greater than that of Zr-1Nb-1Sn-0.1Fe alloy (750 MPa), achieving an excellent mechanical strength even after the elimination of Sn, an effective solution strengthening element. The addition of sulfur increased the strength at the expense of ductility. However, the ductile fracture behavior was observed both in Zr-Nb-O and Zr-Nb-O-S alloys. The beneficial effect of sulphur on the strengthening was observed in the cold rolled Zr-1.5Nb-O-S alloys. The activation volume of cold-rolled Zr-1.5Nb decreased with sulfur content in the temperature region of dynamic strain aging associated with oxygen atoms. Insensitivity of the activation volume to the dislocation density and the decrease of the activation volume at a higher temperature where the dynamic strain aging occurs support the suggestion linking the activation volume with the activated bulge of dislocations limited by segregation of oxygen and sulfur atoms. The addition of sulfur was also found to improve the oxidation resistance of Zr-Nb-O alloys.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.452-459
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• 1999

To develop advanced cladding materials, the effect of Nb addition on the microstructure and corrosion characteristics of Zr-0.8Sn-xNb alloys was investigated. As the Nb content increased, the grain size decreased and the volume fraction of precipitates increased. It was observed from the corrosion test at $360^{\circ}C$ that the corrosion resistance increased with decreasing Nb content. The best corrosion resistance was obtained in Zr-0.8Sn-0.2Nb alloy with high volume fraction of tetra-$ZrO_2$in the oxide. Therefore, it is suggested that Nb in theZr-0.85Sn-xNb system should be added within the solubility limit of Nb from the viewpoint of alloy design.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.318-327
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• 1998

The deuterium uptake behavior of Zr-2.5Nb pressure tubes in Wolsong Unit 1 was analyzed in terms of longitudinal location, operation time, and coolant temperature. The results were compared with those obtained from Canadian CANDU reactors. The amount of deuterium uptake was higher at the outlet part than at the inlet part and was also higher when subjected to a longer operation time and a higher coolant temperature. The hydrogen uptake of Zr-2.5Nb in a hydrogen gas atmosphere was dependent on the microstructure of the alloy. The aged Zr-2.5Nb consisting of $\alpha$-Zr and $\beta$-Nb phases showed higher hydrogen uptake than that consisting of $\alpha$-Zr and $\beta$-Zr phases. The hydrogen in the alloy decreased the rate of oxidation. This could be explained in terms of the cathodic controlled reaction of Zr-2.5Nb oxidation.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.644-648
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• 1995

Transparent xBa(La$_{1}$2/Nb$_{1}$2/)O$_{3}$-(1-x)Pb(Zr, Ti)O$_{3}$ (x=8.5, 9.0[mol.%], Zr/Ti=70/30~40/60) ceramics were fabricated by the two-stage sintering method, the electrooptic properties were investigated with Ba(La$_{1}$2/Nb$_{1}$2/)O$_{3}$ content and Zr/Ti composition ratio. Decreasing the Zr/Ti ratio, the electrooptic property was changed from a quadratic electrooptic effect to a linear electrooptic effcet. In the BLN-PZT 9.0/50/50 specimen having the tetragonal structure, the linear electrooptic coefficient had the highest value of 6.01*10$^{-10}$ [m/V] and in the BLN-PZT 9.0/55/45 specimen which located near the MPB region, the quadratic electrooptic coefficient had the highest value of 10.53*10$^{-16}$ [m$^{2}$/V$^{2}$].

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.17-24
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• 2011

To investigate the relationship between heat treatment in zirconium alloy tubing process and metallurgical characteristics of Zr-1Nb-0.69Sn-0.11Fe alloy tubes, mechanical and oxidation behaviors of tubes heat treated at different temperatures after the final pilgering were investigated. The stress strain curves exhibited the saturation behaviors in all heat treatment conditions ($460{\sim}600^{\circ}C$) in this study with the onset strain of saturation increased with increase of post-pilgering annealing temperature. The strength fell off rapidly with increasing annealing temperature. The ultimate strength of the low tin Zr-1Nb-0.69Sn-0.11Fe alloy with slightly higher iron and oxygen contents in this study was found to be higher than Zr-1Nb-1Sn-0.1Fe alloy. The oxidation experiments in steam condition revealed that the corrosion resistance of low tin Zr-1Nb-0.69Sn-0.11Fe alloy was better than the Zr-1Nb-1Sn-0.1Fe alloy with a higher Sn content. The weight gain of low tin Zr-1Nb-0.69Sn-0.11Fe alloy tubes gradually increased with the increasing annealing temperature possibly due to the decreased Nb content in the matrix because of the formation of ${\beta}-Nb$ particles.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.231-235
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• 2005

We studied the microstructural evolution of ZrTM-Al (TM=Nb and Ti) alloy films, MR and electrical properties of the MTJ with $ZrTM-AlO_x$ barrier as a function of Zr/TM ratio. We observed that the ternary-oxide barrier reduced the TMR ratio due mainly to the structural defects such as the surface roughness. The change in TMR ratio and $V_h$ with Zr/TM ratio exactly corresponds to the systematic changes in the microstructural variation. Although the MTJ with ternary oxide reduced the TMR and the electrical stabilities, the junction resistances decreased as the Ti and Nb concentration increased due to the band-gap reduction caused by the formation of extra bands

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.11 no.10
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• pp.879-888
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• 2001

The effects of final annealing temperature on the microstructure and creep characteristics were investigated for the Zr-lNb-0.2X (X=0, Mo, Cu) and Zr-lNb- 1Sn-0.3Fe-0.1X (X=0, Mo, Cu) alloys. The microstructures were observed by using TEM/EDS, and grain size and distributions of precipitates were analyzed using a image analyzer. The creep test was performed at $400^{\circ}C$ under applied stress of 150 MPa for 10 days. The $\beta$-Zr was observed at annealing temperature above $600^{\circ}C$. In the temperature above$ 600^{\circ}C$, the grain sizes of both alloy systems appeared to be increased with increasing the final annealing temperature. The creep strengths of Zr-1Nb-1Sn-0.3Fe-0.1X alloys were higher than those of Zr-1Nb-0.2X ones due to the effect of solid solution hardening by Sn in Zr-lNb-lSn-0.3Fe-0.1X alloy system. Also, Mo addition showed the strong effect of precipitate hardening in both alloy systems. The creep strength rapidly decreased with increasing the annealing temperature up to $600^{\circ}C$. However, a superior creep resistance was obtained in the sample that annealed to have a second phase of $\beta$-Zr. It was considered that the appearance of $\beta$-Zr would play an important role in the strengthening mechanism of creep deformation.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.378-385
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• 1999

To evaluate the effect of Sn on the corrosion behavior of Zr alloys for nuclear fuel claddings, the corrosion tests on the binary Zr-xSn and the ternary Zr-0.4Nb-xSn alloys were performed in water at $360^{\circ}C$. The binary alloys containing 0.5, 0.8 and 1.5wt.% Sn showed the transition corrosion rate at 15 days. On the other hand, the binary alloy containing 2.0wt.% Sn showed a good corrosion resistance without the transition of corrosion rate up to 80 days. The corrosion rate of the ternary alloy increased with increasing Sn content. The difference of corrosion behaviors between binary and ternary alloys is considered due to the different solubility of Sn, Nb content and precipitates. The corrosions of Zr-xSn and Zr-0.4Nb-xSn alloys would be controlled by the fraction of tetragonal-$ZrO_2$and the amount of hydrogen pick-up.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.271-277
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• 2004

Zr-xNb alloys (x = 0.2, 0.8, 1.5 wt.%) were prepared to study the characteristics of the phase transformation in Zr-Nb system. The samples were heat treated at ${\beta}$-temperature ($1020^{\circ}C$) for 20 min and then cooled with different cooling rate. The microstructures of the specimens having the same compositions were changed with cooling rate and Nb content. The Widmanst$\ddot{a}$tten structure was observed on the furnace-cooled sample. The relationship between ${\alpha}$-Widmanst$\ddot{a}$tten and ${\beta}$-phase was the {0001}${\alpha}$//{110}${\beta}$, <11$\bar{2}$0>//<111>. The ${\beta}$-phase in Widmanst$\ddot{a}$tten structure of Zr-Nb alloys containing Nb more than solubility limit was identified as ${\beta}_{Zr}$ phase which was a stable phase at high temperature. In the water quenched samples, two kinds of martensite structures were observed depending on the Nb-concentration. The lath martensite was formed in Zr-0.2, 0.8 wt.% Nb alloys and the plate martensite having twins was formed in Zr-1.5 wt.% Nb alloy.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.422-429
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• 2000

To investigate the effect of annealing temperature and time on the recrystallization behavior and microstructure of Zr-based alloys, the specimens of Zr-0.8Sn-0.4Nb-0.4Fe-0.2Cu, Zr-1Nb, Zircaloy-4, and unalloyed Zr were cold-worked and annealed at 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, $900^{\circ}C$ for 30 to 5000 minutes. The hardness, microstructure and precipitate of the specimens were investigated by using micro-hardness tester, optical microscope and transmission electron microscope, respectively. The recrystallization of Zr-based alloys occurred between $400^{\circ}C$ and $600^{\circ}C$. As the content of alloying elements increased, the hardness and recrystallization temperature of the alloys increased though the grain sizes after recrystallization decreased. It was supposed that the hardness of Zr-based alloy with Fe or Cu increased during recovery by the formation of Fe or Cu precipitates.