Deoxidation Process of Oxidized Zirconium Alloy

Abstract:

When zirconium alloy is corroded, an oxide film is formed on the surface, which hinders the ion transfer during the corrosion process. Therefore, the analysis of the oxide film is an important part of the research on the corrosion resistance of zirconium alloys. In this paper, two kinds of Zr-Sn-Nb alloys were corroded in 400 °C/10.3 MPa pure steam and 500 °C/10.3 MPa pure steam in autoclave to obtain samples with oxide thickness of 14 um and 18 um respectively. Then they were annealed at 800 °C at a pressure of 10^-4 Pa for 18 h. XRD and WDS studies were used to analyze the structure and oxygen content of the oxide film after annealing. The results indicate that the oxide films of alloys change from zirconium dioxide to zirconium after annealing. The oxygen diffuses into the substrate and its content decreases continuously with increasing diffusion distance. Combined with the SEM analysis of cross-section samples, it is found that the annealed samples are composed of several layers. An oxygen-saturated zirconium layer, a transitional layer with micro-cracks, an oxygen-dissolved α-Zr layer and a β-Zr layer are identified. Based on these results, the mechanism of the ion transfer in the oxide film during annealing is analyzed deeply. It is proposed that space charges in the oxide film have a major impact on deoxidation kinetics. This study provides a new research method for the corrosion mechanism of zirconium alloys.

• Periodical: Materials Science Forum (Volume 993)
• Pages: 22-28
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/MSF.993.22
• Online since: May 2020
• Authors: Jun Song Zhang*, Chong Sheng Long, Jing Jing Liao, Tian Guo Wei, Zhong Bo Yang
• Keywords: Charged Species, Deoxidation Kinetics, Oxygen Content, Zirconium Dioxide

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