DOE OSTI2016
The mechanical and corrosion behavior of the Russian-type zirconium cladding alloy E110, predominantly used in VVERs, has been investigated for many decades. The recent commercialization of a new alloy E110G, produced on a sponge zirconium basis, gave the opportunity to compare the mechanical properties of the old E110 and the new E110G fuel claddings. The mechanical experiments performed with samples from both claddings in MTA EK including axial and tangential (ring) tensile tests at 20, 150 and 300 Celsius degrees. The chosen geometries for the tests were modelled using finite element method. Due to the anisotropy of the cladding tubes the axial yield strength was 6% higher than the tangential. The yield strength of the E110G alloy was 12% higher than for the E110 claddings at ambient temperature, but this difference decreased to 5% at 300 C. degrees. Some samples underwent chemical or thermal treatments and the effects of these were evaluated. These treatments were slight oxidation in steam at 800 C. degrees up to 3 ECR%, hydridation at 600 C. degrees up to 400 ppm, and heat treatment in argon atmosphere at temperatures between 600 and 1000 C. degrees. The results confirm that the heat treatment has more significant effect on the yield strength of the claddings than the chemical treatments. While the yield strength of the oxidized samples was slightly higher, when combined with the data from the heat treatment at 800 C. degrees, the oxidation itself seems to have lowered the yield strength as the thickness of the metal decreased. The hydridation of the cladding samples did not change the yield strength and the samples remained ductile even at room temperature. The thermo-mechanical creep of the two cladding alloys was also investigated. Biaxial and uniaxial creep experiments were performed with 100 mm long cladding tubes. In the biaxial test, samples of both alloys were pressurized with argon to 5, 7.5 and 10 MPa at 500 C. degrees and the test lasted till the depressurization of the tubes. The uniaxial creep was measured at 300 and 500 C. degrees in the axial direction and constant stress was applied using weights. This stress was 14.8 and 27.7 MPa at 300 C. degrees and 3.7 and 6.5 MPa at 500 C. degrees. The elongation and diametrical change of the samples were measured using different methods. (authors)
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗