• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.250-255
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• 2009

Oxidation characteristics of Zirlo and Zircaloy-4 tubes, which are widely used as nuclear power fuel cladding, are studied in steam environment up to $1200^{\circ}C$. Oxidation resistances are compared in terms of the mass increase due to the absorption of oxygen. The evolution of microscopic structure accompanied with the oxidation process is investigated. Also, the influence of oxidation on the fretting wear characteristics of the tubes is studied. Piezo-electrically actuated rig is employed to fret the tubes with cross-contacting arrangement. Wear scar is observed and measured, by using microscopes and a 3D-profiler. The results of fretting wear are quantified in terms of scar size, wear volume and wear coefficient, and compared for the three different tube materials of oxidated Zirlo, virgin Zirlo and Zircaloy-4.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.180-184
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• 2007

A new zirconium alloy, low-Sn Zircaloy-4 was investigated to see the effects of high pressure steam on the oxidation at high temperatures. High pressure steam turned out to enhance the oxidation at high temperatures below $1000^{\circ}C$. The oxide layer groved to deviate from the uniform layer under high steam pressures, and usually cracks were found at the thicker parts in the oxide layer. High pressure steam seems to destabilize the tetragonal oxides near the metal layer, and the monoclinic oxides transformed from the destabilized tetragonal oxides are structurally not sound, resulting in enhanced oxidation under high pressure steam.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.317-323
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• 2002

Effect of V and Sb content on characteristics of ${\beta}\;to\;{\alpha}$ phase transformation in Zr-0.84Sn alloy has been studied using optical microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. As V content increased, the ${\beta}{\to}{\beta}+{\alpha}$ transformation temperature was lowered, thus allowing the width of $\alpha$-lath in air-cooled Zr-0.86Sn-0.40V alloy to be fine. The width of ${\alpha}$-lath in air-cooled Zr-0.84Sn-xSb, however, was rarely changed with Sb content. The ${\beta}\;to\;{\alpha}$ transformed microstructures of water-quenched Zr-0.84Sn, Zr-0.84Sn-0.10V and Zr-0.84Sn-0.19V alloys were mainly slipped martensite. On the other hand, those of wafter-quenched Zr-0.86Sn-0.40V and Zr-0.85Sn-0.05Sb alloys were predominantly twinned martensite. In case of water-quenched Zr-0.85Sn-0.12Sb and Zr-0.84Sn-0.17Sb alloys, basketweave structure was observed. The transition of slipped martensite to twinned martensite in Zr-0.84Sn-xV alloys and the transition of twinned martensite to basketweave structure in Zr-0.84Sn-xSb alloys were due to the decrease of $M_s$ temperature.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.140-148
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• 2002

Anisotropic elastic constants of Zr-2.5Nb pressure tube materials were determined by a high temperature resonant ultrasound spectroscopy (RUS). The resonant frequencies were measured using alumina wave-guides and wide band ultrasonic transducers in a small furnace. The rectangular parallelepiped specimens were fabricated along with the axial, radial and circumferential direction of the pressure tube. A nine elastic stiffness tensor for orthotropic symmetry was determined in the range of room temperature ${\sim}500^{\circ}C$. As the temperature increases, the elastic constant tensor, cij gradually decreases. Higher elastic constants along the transverse direction compared to those along the axial or radial direction are similar to the case of Young's modulus or shear modulus. A crossing of shear elastic constants along axial direction and radial direction was observed near $150^{\circ}C$. This fact corresponds to the crossing of c44 and c66 of single crystal zirconium.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.453-459
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• 2001

It is important for the fabrication of nuclear cladding to optimize the microstructure, because the properties of Zr-based nuclear claddings such as mechanical properties, oxidation-resistance and corrosion- resistance vary widely with its microstructure. The microstructure in Zr-based alloy is strongly dependent on the solubility of alloying element. However, it is very difficult to measure the solubility due to the low solution limit of alloying elements in Zr-based alloy. In this study, Thermoelectric Power(TEP) measurements are used to determine the solubility of Nb in Zr-0.8Sn alloy, which is confirmed by optical microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The solutioning of Nb obtained by a homogenization treatment and water-quench leads to a decrease of TEP The saturation of TEP appears with the increase of homogenization temperature, which means the saturation of the Nb content in the matrix. From these results, the solubility ($C_{Nb}$) of Nb in Zr-0.8Sn with temperature could be expressed as fellow equation : $4.69097{\times}10^{16}{\times}e^{-25300\times\;I/T}$(ppm.at.%)

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2018.06a
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• pp.23-23
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• 2018

In this study, new titanium alloys were prepared by adding elements such as tantalum (Ta), zirconium (Zr) and the like to complement the biological, chemical and mechanical properties of titanium alloys. The Ti-40Ta-xZr ternary alloy was formed on the basis of Ti-40Ta alloy with the contents of Zr in the contents of 0, 3, 7 and 15 wt. %. Plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO), which combines high-voltage sparks and electrochemical oxidation, is a novel method to form ceramic coatings on light metals such as Ti and its alloys. These oxide film produced by the electrochemical surface treatment is a thick and uniform porous form. It is also composed of hydroxyapatite and calcium phosphate-based phases, so it has the characteristics of bone inorganic, non-toxic and very high bioactivity and biocompatibility. Ti-40Ta-xZr alloys were homogenized in an Ar atmosphere at $1050^{\circ}C$ for 1 hour and then quenched in ice water. The electrochemical oxide film was applied by using a power supply of 280 V for 3 minutes in 0.15 M calcium acetate monohydrate ($Ca(CH_3COO)_2{\cdot}H_2O$) and 0.02 M calcium glycerophosphate ($C_3H_7CaO_6P$) electrolyte. A small amount of 0.0075M zinc acetate and magnesium acetate were added to the electrolyte to enhance the bioactivity. The mechanical properties of the coated surface of Ti-40Ta-xZr alloys were evaluated by Vickers hardness, roughness test, and elastic modulus using nano-indentation, and the surface wettability was evaluated by measuring the contact angle of the coated surface. In addition, cell activation and differentiation were examined by cell culture of HEK 293 (Human embryonic kidney 293) cell proliferation. Surface properties of the alloys were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy(FE-SEM), EDS, and X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD).

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.218-222
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• 2018

An oxide-dispersion-strengthened (ODS) layer was formed on Zircaloy-4 tubes by a laser beam scanning process to increase mechanical strength. Laser beam was used to scan the yttrium oxide ($Y_2O_3$)-coated Zircaloy-4 tube to induce the penetration of $Y_2O_3$ particles into Zircaloy-4. Laser surface treatment resulted in the formation of an ODS layer as well as microstructural phase transformation at the surface of the tube. The mechanical strength of Zircaloy-4 increased with the formation of the ODS layer. The ring-tensile strength of Zircaloy-4 increased from 790 to 870 MPa at room temperature, from 500 to 575 MPa at $380^{\circ}C$, and from 385 to 470 MPa at $500^{\circ}C$. Strengthening became more effective as the test temperature increased. It was noted that brittle fracture occurred at room temperature, which was not observed at elevated temperatures. Resistance to dynamic high-temperature bursting improved. The burst temperature increased from 760 to $830^{\circ}C$ at a heating rate of $5^{\circ}C/s$ and internal pressure of 8.3 MPa. The burst opening was also smaller than those in fresh Zircaloy-4 tubes. This method is expected to enhance the safety of Zr fuel cladding tubes owing to the improvement of their mechanical properties.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.9
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• pp.3272-3282
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• 2022

To improve the safety and life extension qualities of nuclear fuel rods which is currently made of zirconium (Zr) alloy, research on the application of chromium (Cr) coating was conducted. Cr coating has advantages such as increased corrosion resistance and reduced oxidation rate, but non-destructive thickness evaluation studies are needed to ensure the reliability of the steps taken to provide uniform coating thickness. Eddy current testing (ECT) is a representative non-destructive technique for such as thickness evaluation and surface defect inspection. To inspect changes in thickness at micron scale, the Swept Frequency Eddy Current Testing (SFECT) method was applied to select a frequency range sensitive to changes in thickness. The coating thickness was evaluated using changes in signals, such as that for impedance. In this study, basic research was performed to evaluate the thickness of the Cr coating on a rod using an encircling sensor and the SFECT technique. The sensor design parameters were determined through simulation, after which the new sensor was manufactured. A sensor capable of measuring the thickness of a non-uniformly Cr-coating rod was selected through an experiment evaluating the performance of the manufactured sensor. This was done using the impedance-difference of a Cr-coating rod and a Zr alloy rod. The possibility of evaluation of the Cr coating thickness was confirmed by comparing the experimental results with the selected sensor and the signals of the measured Cr-coating rod. All simulation results were verified experimentally.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2001.06d
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• pp.834-839
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• 2001

Calandria tube wrapping each pressure tube is one of the key structural components of CANDU reactor(Calandria) which is consisted of many pressure tubes containing nuclear fuel assemblies. As the Calandria tube(made of zirconium alloy) is sagging due to its thermal and irradiation creep during the plant operation, it possibly contacts with liquid injection nozzle crossing beneath the Calandria tube, which subsequently results in difficulties on the safe operation. It is therefore necessary to check the gap for the confirmation of no contacts between the two tubes, Calandria tube and liquid injection tube, with a proper measure during the life of plant. In this study, an ultrasonic measurement method was selected among several methods investigated. The ultrasonic device being developed for the measurement of the gap was introduced and its preliminary performance test results were presented here. The gap between LIN and CT at site was measured using by this ultrasonic device at site.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.79-85
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• 2016

It is imperative to find environment-friendly coatings as an alternative to the currently used hexavalent chromate conversion coatings for the purpose of improving the anti-corrosion properties of aluminum alloys. Hence, in this study, the corrosion properties of a trivalent chromate conversion coating solution are analyzed and measured. Because of the presence of multiple components in trivalent chromate conversion coating solutions, it is difficult to control plating, attributed to their mutual organic relationship. It is of significance to determine the concentrations of the components present in these coatings; hence, qualitative and quantitative analysis is required. The coating solution contained not only an environment-friendly component chromium(III), but also zirconium, fluorine, sulfur, and potassium, in the coating film. These metals are confirmed to produce a film with improved corrosion resistance to form a thin layer. The excellent corrosion resistance for the trivalent chromate solution is attributed to various inorganic and organic additives.