ODS steels (Oxide Dispersion Strengthened) are candidate materials for fuel cladding in Sodium Fast Reactors (SFR). These materials have good mechanical properties at high temperature due to a dispersion of nanometer-sized oxides into the matrix. Previous studies have shown that melting can induce a decrease of the mechanical properties at high temperatures due to modifications of the nanometer-sized oxide dispersion. Therefore the fusion welding techniques are not recommended and the solid state boundings has to be evaluated. This study is focused on resistance upset welding. Welding experiments and numerical simulations are coupled. The numerical simulation is developed in order to have a better understanding of the thermal and the mechanical phenomena occurring during the welding process. The simulation shows that the welding steps can be divided in two stages. First, the temperature of the contact between pieces increases. Second, the heat generation is mainly located in the cladding leading to the collapse and forging the pieces. The microstructural observations confirm that the major deformation is located in the cladding. Oxide dispersion modification and dynamical recrystallisation has been found for welds achieved with a non optimized process parameter set. The deformation and the temperature seem to be of prime importance in the modification of the oxide dispersion.
Effects of Surface Treatment using Oxide-Dispersion-Strengthening on the Mechanical Properties of Zr-based Fuel Cladding Tubes
