Nuclear Engineering and Technology (May 2022)

Temperature-dependent axial mechanical properties of Zircaloy-4 with various hydrogen amounts and hydride orientations

  • Shinhyo Bang,
  • Ho-a Kim,
  • Jae-soo Noh,
  • Donguk Kim,
  • Kyunghwan Keum,
  • Youho Lee

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 54, no. 5
pp. 1579 – 1587

Abstract

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The effects of hydride amount (20–850 wppm), orientation (circumferential and radial), and temperature (room temperature, 100 °C, 200 °C) on the axial mechanical properties of Zircaloy-4 cladding were comprehensively examined. The fraction of radial hydride fraction in the cladding was quantified using PROPHET, an in-house radial hydride fraction analysis code. Uniaxial tensile tests (UTTs) were conducted at various temperatures to obtain the axial mechanical properties. Hydride orientation has a limited effect on the axial mechanical behavior of hydrided Zircaloy-4 cladding. Ultimate tensile stress (UTS) and associated uniform elongation demonstrated limited sensitivity to hydride content under UTT. Statistical uncertainty of UTS was found small, supporting the deterministic approach for the load-failure analysis of hydrided Zircaloy-4 cladding. These properties notably decrease with increasing temperature in the tested range. The dependence of yield strength on hydrogen content differed from temperature to temperature. The ductility-related parameters, such as total elongation, strain energy density (SED), and offset strain decrease with increasing hydride contents. The abrupt loss of ductility in UTT was found at ∼700 wppm. Demonstrating a strong correlation between total elongation and offset strain, SED can be used as a comprehensive measure of ductility of hydrided zirconium alloy.

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