Study of microstructure and precipitates of a Zr-2.5Nb-0.5Cu CANDU spacer material

DOI: 10.1016/j.jnucmat.2016.09.017

Authors: Qingshan Dong (Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Queen's University) , Hongbing Yu (Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Queen's University) , Zhongwen Yao (Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Queen's University) , Fei Long (Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Queen's University) , Levente Balogh (Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Queen's University) , Mark R. Daymond (Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Queen's University)
Co-authored by industrial partner: No

Type: Journal Paper
Journal: Journal Of Nuclear Materials , VOL 481 , PAGES 153 - 163

State: Published (Approved)
Published: December 2016
Diamond Proposal Number(s): 11794

Abstract: Synchrotron X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscope bright field and high angle annular dark field were employed to investigate the microstructure and precipitates of a Zr-2.5Nb-0.5Cu alloy wire, with potential application as a spacer in the CANDU® reactor design. Results show that three types of microstructure co-exist in the alloy: Widmanstätten structure, α-Zr grains without precipitates and α-Zr grains with precipitates. In the meantime, three types of second phase particles are detected: β-Nb, Zr2Cu and Zr2Fe, which have different distributions within the microstructure. The β-Nb precipitates are observed to be extensively distributed among the α plate boundaries and twin interfaces in the Widmanstätten structure, whereas the Zr2Cu and Zr2Fe precipitates are only found in the α plate boundaries. The orientation relations of the Zr2Cu precipitates with respect to the α-Zr and β-Nb are found to be (013)Zr2Cu//(0001)α(013)Zr2Cu//(0001)α(013)Zr2Cu//(0001)α(013)Zr2Cu//(0001)α, View the MathML source[03¯1]Zr2Cu//[1¯100]α and (013)Zr2Cu//(011)β−Nb(013)Zr2Cu//(011)β−Nb, View the MathML source[03¯1]Zr2Cu//[2¯1¯1]β−Nb respectively.

Journal Keywords: Zr-2.5Nb-0.5Cu; STEM; Microstructure; Precipitates; Orientation relationship

Diamond Keywords: Alloys

Subject Areas: Materials, Engineering


Instruments: I11-High Resolution Powder Diffraction

Added On: 21/11/2016 13:15

Discipline Tags:

Materials Engineering & Processes Materials Science Engineering & Technology Metallurgy

Technical Tags:

Diffraction X-ray Powder Diffraction