High-Temperature Oxidation of Cr-Coated Resistance Upset Welds Made from E110 Alloy

The resistance upset welds (RUW) made from E110 alloy without and with Cr coatings were oxidized in air atmosphere at 1100 °C for 2, 10 and 30 min. The cross-section microstructure, elemental composition and hardness were studied before and after oxidation using optical and scanning electron microscopy, and indentations in welding region. The RUW welding does not noticeably change oxidation kinetics of E110 alloy. The most crucial effect has surface non-regularities formed after welding, which prevent uniform coating deposition on full surface of welded cladding tube and end plug. Cr coating deposition can strongly reduce oxidation of welded E110 alloy, while additional post-processing treatment should be applied to improve surface morphology after RUW welding. Several suggestions favorable to development of ATF Zr-based claddings using Cr coating deposition on welded nuclear rods were discussed.

Protection of Zr Alloy under High-Temperature Air Oxidation: A Multilayer Coating Approach

Metallic Cr and multilayer CrN/Cr coatings with a thickness of 2.5 µm were deposited onto E110 alloy by magnetron sputtering. Oxidation tests in air were performed at 1100 °C for 10–40 min. The gravimetric measurements showed better protective properties of multilayer CrN/Cr coatings in comparison with metallic Cr coating. Multilayer coating prevented fast Cr–Zr inter-diffusion by the formation of a ZrN layer beneath the coating. The appearance of ZrN is caused by interaction with nitrogen formed from the decomposition of CrN to Cr2N phases. Optical microscopy revealed a residual Cr layer for the multilayer CrN (0.25 µm)/Cr (0.25 µm) coating for all the oxidation periods. Additional in situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies of coated alloy during linear heating up to 1400 °C showed that the formation of the Cr2Zr phase in the case of multilayer coatings occurred at a higher (~150 °C) temperature compared to metallic Cr. Multilayer coatings can decrease the nitrogen effect for Zr alloy oxidation. Uniform and thinner oxide layers of Zr alloy were observed when the multilayer coatings were applied. The highest oxidation resistance belonged to the CrN/Cr coating with a multilayer step of 0.25 µm.

Structure and properties of the surface layer of zirconium-niobium alloy subjected to high-dose implantation with 10B+ boron isotope ions

The creation of layers implanted with boron isotope 10B on the elements of the core of a nuclear reactor can, due to the anomalously large neutron capture cross-section, provide a decrease in the reactivity of the reactor at the beginning of the company for its operation. The aim of this work is to study the effect of high-dose implantation with 10B + boron isotope ions (ion energy 22 keV, exposure doses from 1×1016 to 7×1016 ion/cm2) on the structure and properties of the surface of E110 alloy samples. It was found that implantation with 10B+ boron ions with an energy of 22 keV at a dose of 7×1016 ions/cm2 leads to an increase in the surface microhardness from 3 GPa for the initial one to 3.7 GPa for the implanted sample. It was found that the corrosion rate of E110 alloy samples in 1% HF solution after implantation (ion energy 10B + 22 keV, dose 7×1016 ion/cm2) is 1.2-1.4 times lower than for the initial alloy. It is shown that the implantation of the E110 alloy with 10B + boron ions is accompanied by the formation of a subgrain structure with dimensions 100-200 nm in the surface layer, an increase in the scalar dislocation density, and the release of nanosized 1.8-2.3 nm zirconium boride particles.