Papers by Keyword: Zircaloy 4

Abstract: A nanostructured surface layer was induced on zircaloy-4 by the method of surface mechanical attrition treatment (SMAT). X-ray diffraction and microhardness tester were applied to identify the average grain size and hardness of specimen processed for different duration, transmission electron microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy were adopted to observe the microstructure of specimen. The results showed that the surface hardness enhanced gradually and then stabilized with the processing duration increasing, while the average grain size declined gradually, to the minimum 20 nm at 15 min, then increased. The formation of nanocrystalline was due to the mechanical twins and dislocation slip.

Abstract: We have studied the effect of a post-weld heat treatment on plasma arc welds on Zircaloy 4 plates. The samples consist of two 100 mm long, 50 mm wide, and 6.25 mm thick plates, welded along the rolling (longitudinal) direction. The heat-treatment consisted of a steady increase in temperature from room temperature to 450oC over a period of 4.5 hours; followed by cooling with an equivalent cooling rate. Residual strains and stresses along the longitudinal, transverse and normal directions on an as-welded and a heat-treated specimen were measured by neutron diffraction on the ENGIN-X beamline at the Isis Facility, Rutherford Laboratory, UK. Peak tensile stresses of (105±25) MPa were found in the as-welded specimen, which were reduced to (70±20) MPa after the heat-treatment. Thermal compressive stresses of (-80±20) MPa were found along the normal direction, which were not affected by the heat treatment. The use of a full-pattern Rietveld refinement for the determination of bulk strains in Zircaloy specimens is also discussed.