• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1996.11b
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• pp.539-544
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• 1996

핵연료 피복관용 신합금으로 개발되고 있는 여러 가지 Zr합금에서 생성되는 석출물의 특성을 규명하기 위하여 EDX가 부착된 TEM을 이용하여 석출물에 관한 연구를 수행하였다. Zrl.4Sn0.2Fe0.1Cr 합금에서는 두 종류의 석출물이 생성되는데 하나는 석출물의 대부분을 차지하는 HCP 구조의 Zr(Cr,Fe)$_2$ 석출물로서 이는 둥근 형태를 유지하며 결정립내나 결정립계에 관계없이 널리 분산되어 분포된다. 다른 하나의 석출물은 극히 일부에서만 관찰되는 Zr$_2$(Fe,Si)성분의 석출물로서 이는 tetragonal 구조를 갖는다. Zr0.5Nb0.6Fe0.3V 합금에서는 tetragonal (Zr,Nb)$_2$(Fe,V)석출물이 형성되며, Nb이 1.0 wt.% 첨가된 Zr1.0Nb0.6Fe0.3V 합금에서는 HCP 구조의 (Zr,Nb)(Fe,V)$_2$ 석출물과 BCC 구조인 $\beta$-Zr이 생성된다. Zr1.0Nb0.6Fe0.3V 합금을 제외하고는 대부분의 합금에서 석출물은 약 1.0 $\mu$m의 크기를 나타냈다. 합금 조성이 다를 경우에 석출물 크기와 35$0^{\circ}C$ 부식 특성과는 연관성이 없는 것으로 나타났다.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.188-194
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• 1999

To investigate the effect of niobium and tin on the mechanical properties of zirconium alloys, the tensile test and the microstructural analysis were performed on the Zr-based binary(Zr-xNb, Zr-xSn) and ternary(Zr-0.8Sn-xNb, Zr-0.4Nb-xSn) alloys. As the content of Nb or Sn element increased, the strengths of the Zr-based alloys tended to gradually increase. The increase of mechanical strength was remarkable strength was remarkable in the range more than the solubility of Nb and Sn. The strengthening effects were discussed on the basis of the solid solution hardening, the precipitate hardening, the grain size effect, and the texture effect. The mechanical strength is mainly controlled by the solid solution hardening and additionally by the precipitate hardening in the content more than solubility limit of Nb and Sn. The grain refinement also has a slight effect on the strength of the zirconium alloys with the addition of Nb and Sn. However, the texture effect can be excluded due to the same Kearns number regardless of the content of alloying elements.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.10 no.7
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• pp.499-504
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• 2000

Recently there have been many investigations on the synthesis and properties of transition metal trialuminides based on Ti, Zr, V, Nb and Ta for use aircraft structure materials in an elevated environment. The effect of Zr additions on the formation behaviour of Al-Nb alloy was investigated. Al-1.3at.%(Nb+Zr) alloys with different Nb to Zr atomic 1:3, 1:1 and 3:1 were prepared by mechanical alloying(MA). The morphological changes and microstructural evolution of Al-Nb-Zr powders during MA were investigated by SEM, XRD and TEM. The intermetallic compound phase of $Nb_2Al\; and\; Al_3Zr_4$ was identified by X-ray diffraction. The intemetallic compound of $Al_3Zr,\; Al_3Nb$ and $Al_3Zr_4$ were formed by heat treatment for 1 hour at $500^{\circ}C$. The size of intermetallic compounds observed by TEM were approximately below 100nm, when they were heat treated after mechanically alloying for 30 hours.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1998.05b
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• pp.148-153
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• 1998

핵연료 피복관용 신합금을 개발하기 위한 기초연구로서 Zr-xNb계 합금과, Zr-0.8Sn-xNb계 합금을 각각 4종씩 선정하였다. 이들 합금을 판재시편으로 가공한 뒤 Autoclave를 이용하여 36$0^{\circ}C$에서 부식 시험을 실시하였다. 부식과정에서 생성되는 산화막의 미세구조를 관찰하기 위해 천이 전 영역에서 동일두께를 갖도록 부식시편을 준비하여 산화막/금속계면에 대해 SEM관찰을 실시하였다. 또한 석출물의 크기와 부식과의 관계를 조사하기 위하여 부식전의 시편에 대해 TEM관찰을 실시하였다. Zr-xNb 2원계 합금에서는 Nb함량이 적을수록 부식저항성이 증가하는 경향을 보이는데, 0.2Nb가 첨가된 합금이 가장 우수한 부식저항성을 보였다. Zr-0.8Sn-xNb 3원계에서도 천이 전 영역에서는 2원계 합금과 마찬가지로 Nb함량이 적을수록 부식저항성이 증가하나, 천이 후 영역에서는 이런 경향이 바뀌는 것이 관찰되었다. 이는 Sn이 첨가됨으로서 Nb가 부식에 미치는 영향이 달라지기 때문이라 생각된다. 산화막 관찰결과, 순수 Zr은 결정립계를 따라서 산화막이 급격히 성장하는 반면에, Zircaloy-4합금은 매우 균일한 산화막 계면을 유지한다. Zr-xNb계 합금과 Zr-0.8Sn-xNb계 합금에서도 내식성이 우수한 합금은 균일한 산화막/금속 계면을 유지하는 것이 관찰되었다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1996.11b
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• pp.545-550
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• 1996

핵연료 피복관용 Zr 신합금을 개발하기 위하여 Zr-0.4Nb-xSn, Zr-0.8Sn-xNb의 두 종류 합금 계에서 7종의 합금을 제조하여 Sn과 Nb량 변화가 내식성 및 기계적 성질에 미치는 영향을 평가하였다 Zr-0.4Nb-xSn계 합금에서 Sn량이 0.8wt%이상일 때 내식성은 급격히 저하되는 것으로 나타났는데 이는 Sn이 ZrO$_2$산화막의 상변태를 촉진시키기 때문이다. Zr-0.8Sn-xNb계 합금에서 Nb량이 0.4~0.8wt% 첨가될 때 내식성은 향상되는 결과를 보였다. 기계적 특성 관점에서는 Sn량이 0.8wt%이상 첨가되고 Nb가 0.4wt%이상 첨가될 때 강도는 증가하는 것으로 나타났다. 따라서 내식성과 기계적 특성을 모두 만족시키기 위해서는 Zr-0.8Sn-(0.4~0.8)Nb 계열의 Nb과 Sn이 첨가된 합금을 기반으로 합금설계가 이루어지는 것이 바람직하다. 이러한 합금원소 영향 평가는 핵연료 피복관용 신합금 개발을 위한 자료로 활용될 예정이다.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.345-353
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• 2001

The present study was carried out to investigate the effect of zirconium addition to $Al_3$Nb intermetallic on the crystal structural modification and microstructural characterization of $Al_3$Nb intermetallic. Elemental Al, Nb, Zr powders and arc melted $Al_3$Nb and $Al_3$Zr intermetallic mixed powders were used as starting materials. MA was carried out in an attritor rotated with 300 rpm for 20 hours. The behavior of MA between two starting materials was some-what different in which the value of internal strain of the elemental powders was higher than that of the intermetallic powder. The intermetallic powder was much more disintegrated during the MA processing. In the case of the elemental powders, AlNb$_2$ phase were transformed to Al(Nb.Zr)$_2$ as a result of ternary addition of Zr element. With the successive heat treatment at 873K for 2 hours, the Al(Nb.Zr)$_2$ phase was transformed to more stable $Al_3$(Nb.Zr) phase. This transformation was clearly confirmed by the identification of X-ray peak position shift. On the other hand, in the carte of the intermetallic powder, there was no evidence of phase transformation to other ternary intermetallic compounds or amorphous phases, even in the case of additional heat treatment. However, nano-sized intermetallic with $Al_3$Nb and $Al_3$Zr were just well distributed instead of phase transformation.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.13-16
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• 2004

Magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) comprising amorphous CoNbZr layers have been investigated. $Co_{85.5}Nb_8Zr_{6.5}$(in at. %) layers were employed to substitute the traditionally used Ta layers with an emphasis given on under-standing underlayer effect. The typical junction structure was $SiO_2/CoNbZr$ or Ta 2/CoFe 8/IrMn 7.5/CoFe 3/Al 1.6 + oxidation/CoFe 3/CoNbZr or Ta 2 (nm). For both as-deposited state and after annealing, the CoNbZr-underlayered structure showed superior surface smoothness up to the tunnel barrier than Ta-underlayerd one (rms roughness of 0.16 vs. 0.34 nm). CoNbZr-based MTJs was proven beneficial for increasing thermal stability and increasing $V_h$ (the bias voltage where MR ratio becomes half) characteristics than Ta-based MTJs. This is because the CoNbZr-based junctions offer smoother interface structure than the Ta-based one.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.46 no.8
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• pp.482-488
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• 2008

For a better understanding of the correlation between a corrosion and a microstructure, it is necessary to study a phase transformation with an annealing condition for Zr-Nb alloy. Zr-5wt.%Nb alloy with different phase characteristics was prepared with various annealing conditions. A microstructural study and corrosion test were performed to investigate the effect of a phase such as the phase type, fraction, and size on corrosion. The corrosion behavior of the Zr-5Nb alloy was very sensitive to the annealing condition, which affected the formation of the ${\beta}$-phases (${\beta}$-Nb or ${\beta}$. The corrosion rate of the Zr-5Nb alloy annealed at $500^{\circ}C$ with the formation of the ${\beta}$-Nb phase was lower than that of the Zr-5Nb alloy annealed from 600 to $800^{\circ}C$ with the formation of the ${\beta}$-Zr phase. The highest corrosion rate was observed for the ${\beta}$-quenched Zr-5Nb alloy. After a consideration of the corrosion rate and micro structure of the Zr-5Nb alloy, the corrosion resistance of that alloy was improved due to the formation of a small sized ${\beta}$-Nb phase which could be controlled by the annealing condition.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.143-143
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• 2009

본 연구에서는 Ti 합금에 Nb과 Zr을 첨가하여 Ti-29Nb-xZr(x : 3, 5, 7, 10, 15 wt %) 3원계 합금을 제조하고 Zr의 함량과 전압 그리고 용액의 농도를 다르게 하여 양극산화 시킨 후 합금의 표면을 관찰하고 특성을 조사하였다.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.378-385
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• 1999

To evaluate the effect of Sn on the corrosion behavior of Zr alloys for nuclear fuel claddings, the corrosion tests on the binary Zr-xSn and the ternary Zr-0.4Nb-xSn alloys were performed in water at $360^{\circ}C$. The binary alloys containing 0.5, 0.8 and 1.5wt.% Sn showed the transition corrosion rate at 15 days. On the other hand, the binary alloy containing 2.0wt.% Sn showed a good corrosion resistance without the transition of corrosion rate up to 80 days. The corrosion rate of the ternary alloy increased with increasing Sn content. The difference of corrosion behaviors between binary and ternary alloys is considered due to the different solubility of Sn, Nb content and precipitates. The corrosions of Zr-xSn and Zr-0.4Nb-xSn alloys would be controlled by the fraction of tetragonal-$ZrO_2$and the amount of hydrogen pick-up.