| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2022 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Mechanical Behavior and Degradation of Advanced Nuclear Fuel and Structural Materials
|
| Presentation Title |
Effects of Low-temperature Neutron Irradiation, Hydrogen Charging, and Post-weld Heat Treatment on Tensile Properties of Welded Zircaloy-4 |
| Author(s) |
John R. Echols, Nate Reid, Lauren Garrison |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
John R. Echols |
| Abstract Scope |
Zircaloy-4 enjoys excellent corrosion, radiation, and mechanical properties. Use has historically been limited mostly to fuel cladding above 300°C. Expanding the usage of zircaloy-4 has been proposed for pressure vessels, test reactors, and reprocessing plants. However, hydrogen, welding, and neutron irradiation effects on microstructure and mechanical properties need to be qualified and deconvoluted for these new operating regimes. This work investigates zircaloy-4 with/without TIG welding, post-weld heat treatment (PWHT), and hydrogen charging - neutron irradiated in the High Flux Isotope Reactor (target doses 1021 and 1022 n/cm2) at low temperature (60-90°C) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Room-temperature tensile and hardness testing was performed. Emphasis is placed on understanding ductility as a function of weld, PWHT, hydrogen content, and dose. The importance of PWHT, H-charging, irradiation, and welding and their effects on microstructure (including formation of the undesirable “blocky alpha” phase) and mechanical behavior will be discussed in detail. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Nuclear Materials, Joining, Mechanical Properties |