• 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.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.369-374
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• 2002

To investigate the corrosion behavior of Zr-1.0Nb-xSn (x=1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5wt. %)alloy system, the corrosion tests of Zr-1.0Nb-xSn alloys were carried out in steam at $400^{\circ}C$ for 125 days and in 70ppm LiOH solution at $360^{\circ}C$ for 180 days. The matrix microstructures of the test specimens were analyzed using TEM and the oxide structures on the test specimens were analyzed using XRD. It was found from the analyses that the more Sn content the alloy had, the faster it was corroded and with the increase of Sn content in the alloy the fraction of $t-ZrO_2$ to $m-ZrO_2$ was decreased. It was also found that the alloys having more Sn showed more dislocation density than those having less.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.188-194
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• 1999

To investigate the effect of niobium and tin on the mechanical properties of zirconium alloys, the tensile test and the microstructural analysis were performed on the Zr-based binary(Zr-xNb, Zr-xSn) and ternary(Zr-0.8Sn-xNb, Zr-0.4Nb-xSn) alloys. As the content of Nb or Sn element increased, the strengths of the Zr-based alloys tended to gradually increase. The increase of mechanical strength was remarkable strength was remarkable in the range more than the solubility of Nb and Sn. The strengthening effects were discussed on the basis of the solid solution hardening, the precipitate hardening, the grain size effect, and the texture effect. The mechanical strength is mainly controlled by the solid solution hardening and additionally by the precipitate hardening in the content more than solubility limit of Nb and Sn. The grain refinement also has a slight effect on the strength of the zirconium alloys with the addition of Nb and Sn. However, the texture effect can be excluded due to the same Kearns number regardless of the content of alloying elements.

• 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.

• 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.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.

• KSTLE International Journal
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.47-51
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• 2003

Sliding wear tests have been carried out in room temperature air and water in order to compare the wear resistance of Zr-xNb-xSn alloys of various alloying elements (Nb and Sn). The main focus was to quantitatively compare the wear properties of the recently developed Zr-xNb-xSn alloys with the commercial ones using the evaluation parameters of the wear resistance with the consideration of the worn area. As a result, the recently developed alloys had a similar wear resistance compared with the commercial ones. The dominant factor governing the wear resistance was the protruded volume of the wear debris that was formed on the worn area in the air condition, but the accommodation of the plastic deformation on the contact area in water. In addition, the worn area size appeared to be very different depending on the tested alloys. To evaluate the wear resistance of each test specimen, the ratio of the wear volume or the protruded volume to the worn area ($D_e$ or $D_p$) is investigated and proposed as the evaluation parameters of the wear resistance.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.182-189
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• 2002

The Zr-0.2Sn-0.8Nb-X(X = 0~200ppm Si, 0~0.4wt.% Mo and Mn respectively) ingots for test specimens were manufactured by a vacuum arc re-melting method to find out the effect of Si, Mo, and Mn on the corrosion characteristics of the Zr-0.2Sn-0.8Nb alloy. After being heat-treated and rolled repeatedly out to be flat materials, they were finally heat-treated at 51$0^{\circ}C$ for three hours and used as the specimens for corrosion tests. The corrosion behavior of the specimens was studied in both 40$0^{\circ}C$ steam for 200 days and in aqueous 70 ppm LiOH solution at 36$0^{\circ}C$ for 90 days. From the study it was found that Si from 80 to 200 ppm contributed to increasing the corrosion resistance of Zr-0.2Sn-0.8Nb alloy in both steam and LiOH solution. This study also showed that Mn from 0.1 to 0.4% caused to go up the corrosion resistance, whereas Mo played a apart in improving the corrosion resistance only between 0.05 and 0.2 wt.%.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.11 no.8
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• pp.647-654
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• 2001

Effects of final annealing temperature on the precipitate and oxidation were investigated for the Zr-lNb and Zr-lNb-lSn-0.3Fe alloys. The microstructure and oxidation of both alloys were evaluated for the optimization of final annealing process of these alloys in the annealing temperature regime of 450 to $800^{\circ}C$. The corrosion test was performed under steam at $400^{\circ}C$ for 270 days in a static autoclave. The oxide formed was identified by low angle X-ray diffraction method. The $\beta$-Zr was observed at annealing temperature above $600^{\circ}C$. Above $600^{\circ}C$, the precipitate area volume fraction of Zr-lNb and Zr-1Nb-lSn-0.3Fe alloys appeared to be increased with increasing the final annealing temperature. The corrosion resistance of Zr-lNb was higher than that of Zr- lNb-lSn-0.3Fe alloy. The corrosion rate of both alloys were accelerated due to the formation and growth of $\beta$-Zr with increasing the annealing temperature.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.49-53
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• 2014

In commercial Zr-Nb-Cu-Ni-Al amorphous alloys, expensive element, Zr, was substituted to Sn which was cheaper one, and then, glass forming ability, compressive strength and hardness of them were estimated. Even though the Sn was added up to 1.5%, resulting phase was not changed to the crystalline form. It was confirmed by X-ray diffraction and thermal analyses. In the X-ray profiles, there were no peaks for crystalline phases and typical halo pattern for amorphous phase was appeared at the diffraction angle of $35^{\circ}{\sim}45^{\circ}$. Thermal analyses also showed that the Sn modified alloys were corresponded to the amorphous standards where ${\delta}T$(= Tx - Tg) and Trg(= Tg/Tm) affecting to the amorphous forming ability were more than 50K and 0.60 respectively. Compressive strengths were 1.77 GPa, 1.63 GPa, 1.65 GPa and 1.77 GPa for 0%Sn, 0.5%Sn, 1.0%Sn and 1.5%Sn respectively. Hardnesses of the Sn modified alloys were decreased from 752 Hv to 702 Hv in 1.0%Sn and recovered to 746 Hv in 1.5%Sn.