Prevention of Delayed Hydride Cracking in Zirconium Alloys

2008 ◽  
pp. 224-224-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
BA Cheadle ◽  
CE Coleman ◽  
JFR Ambler
Metals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 247
Author(s):  
Viktor Kudiiarov ◽  
Ivan Sakvin ◽  
Maxim Syrtanov ◽  
Inga Slesarenko ◽  
Andrey Lider

The work is devoted to the study of the laws of the formation of a hydride rim in E110 zirconium alloy claddings during gas-phase hydrogenation. The problem of hydrogen penetration and accumulation and the subsequent formation of hydrides in the volume of zirconium cladding tubes of water-cooled power reactors remain relevant. The formation of brittle hydrides in a zirconium matrix firstly, leads to a significant change in the mechanical properties, and secondly, can cause the destruction of the claddings by the mechanism of delayed hydride cracking. The degree of the hydride’s effect on the mechanical properties of zirconium cladding is mainly determined by the features of the hydride’s distribution and orientation. The problem of hydride rim formation in zirconium alloys with niobium is quite new and poorly studied. Therefore, the study of hydride rim formation in Russian zirconium alloy is important and necessary for predicting the behavior of claddings during the formation of the hydride rim.


Author(s):  
Michael Martin

Zirconium alloys, as used in water-cooled nuclear reactors, are susceptible to a time-dependent damage mechanism known as Delayed Hydride Cracking, or DHC. Corrosion of the zirconium alloy in the presence of water generates hydrogen that subsequently diffuses through the metallic structure towards stress concentrating features such as notches or cracks. Canadian standard CSA N285.8–10 uses a process-zone modelling approach to define a threshold stress level beyond which DHC is predicted to occur. The process-zone analysis to calculate the threshold stress level generally proceeds by representing the process-zone as a crack, the length of which is determined by the superposition of stress intensity factors obtained from handbook solutions or cracked-body finite element models. Process-zone models are a subset of the more general class of cohesive-zone models and cohesive elements are available in a number of standard finite element codes. Cohesive elements can be used to simulate the process-zone response, or indeed more complex cohesive behaviour. In this paper, the stress and displacement results from finite element based cohesive-zone modelling of a sharp crack and blunt notches of various root radii are compared with analytical process-zone solutions. The cohesive-zone results are also compared with the process-zone formulation used in CSA N285.8–10. The results show that finite element based cohesive-zone analysis can be used to replicate the process-zone results. The key benefit of finite element based cohesive-zone modelling is that it provides a framework for investigating the DHC characteristics of arbitrary hydride distributions, using readily available techniques.


2005 ◽  
Vol 297-300 ◽  
pp. 1685-1690
Author(s):  
Young Suk Kim ◽  
Kyung Soo Im ◽  
Yong Moo Cheong

The hydrogen concentration limit and critical temperatures for a delayed hydride cracking (DHC) in zirconium alloys have been reanalyzed using Kim’s DHC model that a driving force for DHC is not the stress gradient but the supersaturated hydrogen concentration or ∆C arising from a hysteresis of the terminal solid solubility on a heating and on a cooling. The DHC initiation occurs generally at the temperatures corresponding to the terminal solid solubility for precipititation (TSSP), demonstrating that the supercooling from the terminal solid solubility for dissolution (TSSD) is required to initiate the DHC. The DHC arrest temperatures correspond to the temperatures where the ∆C is reduced to zero. Therefore, we conclude that the ∆C is the driving force for the DHC and that the Kim’s DHC model is feasible.


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