A Comparison of Fretting Wear Characteristics of Zircaloy-4 Tube in Light Water and in Air

경수 및 공기중에서의 지르칼로이-4 튜브의 프레팅 마멸특성 비교

The fretting wear behaviour of Zircaloy-4 tube used as the fuel rod cladding in PWR nuclear power plants has been investigated at the different test environment, in light water and in air as a function of slip amplitude, normal load, test duration and frequency. Zircaloy-4 tubes were used for both of oscillating and stationary specimens. A fretting wear tester was designed to be suitable for this fretting test. The wear volume and specific wear rate of Zircaloy-4 tube in water were greater than those in air under various slip amplitude. It was found that delaminate debris and surface cracks were observed at low slip amplitude and high load in water Experimental results showed that the light water accelerated the wear of Zircaloy-4 tube at low slip amplitude in fretting.