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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 649 records · Page 36
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

Chemical reactivity of CVC and CVD SiC with UO 2 at high temperatures

Two types of silicon carbide (SiC) synthesized using two different vapor deposition processes were embedded in UO 2 pellets and evaluated for their potential chemical reaction with UO 2 . While minor reactivity between chemical-vapor-composited (CVC) SiC and UO 2 was observed at comparatively low temperatures of 1100 and 1300 C, chemical-vapor-deposited (CVD) SiC did not show any such reactivity, according to microstructural investigations. But, both CVD and CVC SiCs showed some reaction with UO 2 at a higher temperature (1500 C). Elemental maps supported by phase maps obtained using electron backscatter diffraction indicated that CVC SiC was more reactive than CVD SiC at 1500 C. Moreover, this investigation indicated the formation of uranium carbides and uranium silicide chemical phases such as UC, USi 2 , and U 3 Si 2 as a result of SiC reaction with UO 2 .

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

Microstructure effects on the recrystallization of low-symmetry alpha-uranium

We employ electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) to investigate microstructural evolution of uranium during recrystallization. To understand the relationship between microstructure and recrystallization, we use measures of intra-granular misorientation within grains and near grain boundaries in both deformed (non-recrystallized) uranium and recrystallizing uranium. The data show that the level of intra-granular misorientation depends on crystallographic orientation. However, contrary to expectation, this relationship does not significantly affect the recrystallization texture. Rather, the analysis suggests that recrystallization nucleation occurs along high angle grain boundaries in the deformed microstructure. Specifically, we show that the nucleation of recrystallized grains correlates well with the spatially heterogeneous distribution of high angle boundaries. Due to the inhomogeneous distribution of high angle boundaries, the recrystallized microstructure after long times exhibits clustered distributions of small and large grains. Twin boundaries do not appear to act as recrystallization nucleation sites.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Analysis of stress corrosion cracking in alloy 718 following commercial reactor exposure

Alloy 718 is generally considered a highly corrosion-resistant material but can still be susceptible to stress corrosion cracking (SCC). The combination of factors leading to SCC susceptibility in the alloy is not always clear enough. In this paper, alloy 718 leaf spring (LS) materials that suffered stress corrosion damage during two 24-month cycles in pressurized water reactor service, operated to >45 MWd/mtU burn-up, was investigated. Compared to archival samples fabricated through the same processing conditions, little microstructural and property changes occurred in the material with in-service irradiation, contrary to high dose rate laboratory-based experiments reported in literature. Though the lack of delta phase formation along grain boundaries would suggest a more SCC resistant microstructure, grain boundary cracking in the material was extensive. Crack propagation routes were explored through focused ion beam milling of specimens near the crack tip for transmission electron microscopy as well as in polished plan view and cross-sectional samples for electron backscatter diffraction analysis. It has been shown in this study that cracks propagated mainly along random high-angle grain boundaries, with the material around cracks displaying a high local density of dislocations. The slip lines were produced through the local deformation of the leaf spring material above their yield strength. Also, the cause for local SCC appears to be related to oxidation of both slip lines and grain boundaries, which under the high in-service stresses resulted in crack development in the material.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2016

SiC layer microstructure in AGR-1 and AGR-2 TRISO fuel particles and the influence of its variation on the effective diffusion of key fission products

Tristructural isotropic (TRISO) coated particle fuel is a promising fuel form for advanced reactor concepts such as high temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGR) and is being developed domestically under the US Department of Energy’s Nuclear Reactor Technologies Initiative in support of Advanced Reactor Technologies. The fuel development and qualification plan includes a series of fuel irradiations to demonstrate fuel performance from the laboratory to commercial scale. The first irradiation campaign, AGR-1, included four separate TRISO fuel variants composed of multiple, laboratory-scale coater batches. The second irradiation campaign, AGR-2, included TRISO fuel particles fabricated by BWX Technologies with a larger coater representative of an industrial-scale system. The SiC layers of as-fabricated particles from the AGR-1 and AGR-2 irradiation campaigns have been investigated by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) to provide key information about the microstructural features relevant to fuel performance. The results of a comprehensive study of multiple particles from all constituent batches are reported. The observations indicate that there were microstructural differences between variants and among constituent batches in a single variant. Finally, insights on the influence of microstructure on the effective diffusivity of key fission products in the SiC layer are also discussed.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Crystallographic texture and microstructural changes in fusion welds of recrystallized Zry-4 rolled plates

This study presents a detailed characterization of the microstructural and crystallographic texture changes observed in the transition region in a weld between two Zircaloy-4 cold rolled and recrystallized plates. The microstructural study was performed by optical microscopy under polarized light and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Texture changes were characterized at different lengthscales: in the micrometric size, orientation imaging maps (OIM) were constructed by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), in the millimetre scale, high energy XRD experiments were done at the Advanced Photon Source (USA) and compared to neutron diffraction texture determinations performed in the HIPPO instrument at Los Alamos National Laboratory. In the heat affected zone (HAZ) we observed the development of Widmanstätten microstructures, typical of the α( hcp ) to β( bcc ) phase transformation. Associated with these changes a rotation of the c-poles is found in the HAZ and fusion zone. While the base material shows the typical texture of a cold rolled plate, with their c-poles pointing 35° apart from the normal direction of the plate in the normal-transversal line, in the HAZ, c-poles align along the transversal direction of the plate and then re-orient along different directions, all of these changes occurring within a lengthscale in the order of mm. The evolution of texture in this narrow region was captured by both OIM and XRD, and is consistent with previous measurements done by Neutron Diffraction in the HIPPO diffractometer at Los Alamos National Laboratory, USA. The microstructural and texture changes along the HAZ were interpreted as arising due to the effect of differences in the cooling rate and β grain size on the progress of the different α variants during transformation. Fast cooling rates and large β grains are associated to weak variant selection during the β–>α transformation, while slow cooling rates and fine β grains result in strong variant selection.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Monte Carlo modeling of recrystallization processes in α-uranium

In this study, starting with electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) data obtained from a warm clock-rolled α-uranium deformation microstructure, a Potts Monte Carlo model was used to simulate static site-saturated recrystallization while testing a number of different conditions for the assignment of recrystallized nuclei within the microstructure. The simulations support observations that recrystallized nuclei within α-uranium form preferentially on non-twin high-angle grain boundary sites at 450 °C, and demonstrate that the most likely nucleation sites on these boundaries can be identified by the surrounding degree of Kernel Average Misorientation (KAM), which may be considered as a proxy for the local geometrically necessary dislocation (GND) density.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Evaluation of post-weld heat treatments applied to FeCrAl alloy weldments

The nuclear incident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has created a strong push for accident-tolerant fuel cladding to replace current zirconium-based cladding. A current near-term focus on iron-chromium-aluminum (FeCrAl) alloys. Laser-welded FeCrAl samples (C35MN, C37M, and C35M10 TC) were subjected to three different post-weld heat treatment regimes: 650 °C for 5 h, 850 °C for 1 h, and 850 °C for 5 h. Here, the samples were then analyzed using optical light microscopy, micro-hardness indentation, and scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive spectroscopy and electron backscatter diffraction. The base microstructure of C37M and C35M10 TC experienced significant grain coarsening outside the fusion zone due to the applied post-weld heat treatments, whereas Nb-rich precipitation in C35MN limited grain growth compared with the other alloys studied.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Quantification of silicon carbide grain structure in TRISO fuel by BSE image analysis

The grain structure of the silicon carbide (SiC) layer in tristructural-isotropic (TRISO) fuels has commonly been qualified in fuel specifications based on a qualitative comparison to visual standards to ensure undesirable microstructure are not produced. This approach is inherently dependent on subjective judgement and provides limited data for analysis or comparison. An alternative method to rapidly quantify (i.e., provide a numeric measure of) the grain structure of the SiC layer in TRISO fuels has been developed. This method relies on the identification of silicon carbide grain boundaries based on brightness variation in backscattered electron (BSE) images through the application of automated image processing algorithms. The speed with which the requisite BSE imaging and analysis may be completed enables the practical use of this method on an industrial scale as a part of qualifying TRISO fuel to meet a given specification on silicon carbide grain structure, which is an important parameter for TRISO fuel performance. The method is benchmarked by comparison to prior Electron-Backscattered Diffraction (EBSD) results for TRISO particles from the Advanced Gas Reactor (AGR) program.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Impacts of annealing treatment on the microstructure of U-Mo monolithic fuel plates

The objective of this paper is to analyze the effect of different heat treatments on the fuel microstructure and texture in laboratory scale monolithic U-Mo fuel plates. Such analyses are relevant as they could possibly inform future fabrication methods for the optimization of microstructure and of material properties to ultimately improve fuel performance during irradiation. For this reason, detail characterization including Energy x-ray dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) techniques were applied on U-Mo plates fabricated with different heat treatments to understand the influence of fabrication on fuel microstructure. Here, U-Mo fresh fuel specimens with or without annealing treatments (homogenization and stress release annealing) after rolling were analyzed in this work. In this study for the first time EBSD was systematically used to analyze the heat treatments influence on texture present in fresh fuel monolithic U-Mo fuel plates. Such changes were connected to other known microstructural and chemical changes. In this work minimization of molybdenum concentration variation and gamma phase decomposition of the U-Mo fuel core after homogenization was observed. Also, an increase in the interaction layer of the U-Mo fuel core with the Zr interlayer diffusion barrier was observed with the UZr 2 growing up to 1 µm in thickness. Such microstructural changes were aligned to the changes in texture and grain structure. Indeed, common texture observed in body-centered cubic (BCC) metal after cold rolling (e.g., α, ξ, γ fibers) were minimized by the annealing/homogenization process. Moreover, grain structure was influenced by the fabrication route with elongated grains formed in the rolled sample and equiaxed grains found after annealing. Such features are relevant since the formation of microstructural features formed during fuel fabrication can impact fuel performance in reactor.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Enhanced Stress Relaxation Behavior via Basal ⟨a⟩ Dislocation Activity in Zircaloy-4 Cladding

Herein this work evaluates the stress relaxation behavior of textured Zircaloy-4 cladding to understand how mechanical anisotropy influences pellet-cladding interactions. Uniaxial and biaxial stress relaxation tests are performed using full-tube axial tension and internal pressurization, respectively, aiming to achieve 0.25%, 1%, and 2% equivalent strains in the cladding samples at a temperature of 300°C. Internal pressure relaxation test results display enhanced stress relaxation compared to axial testing results, particularly for samples loaded beyond yield. Results of electron backscatter diffraction indicate increased deformation microstructure during loading and increased strain homogenization and recovery during relaxation for samples loaded via internal pressurization. Analysis indicates that the increased production and activity of basal ⟨a⟩ dislocations play a significant role in the enhanced relaxation measured in samples subjected to internal pressurization.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Stoichiometric effects on grain growth in zirconium carbide coatings for high-temperature nuclear fuel

Interest in coated particle fuel for space nuclear propulsion (SNP) has expanded in recent years due to successful demonstrations of the resiliency of the coatings to extreme environments. For SNP applications, the coating layer for the particle design needs to be able to withstand exposure to high temperature hydrogen during operating conditions. ZrC has been proposed as a protective layer, however, it is important to understand the high temperature behavior to ensure adequate protection to this fuel. In this study, surrogate ZrC coated particles were heat treated at 1900 °C up to 300 min, to examine how the microstructure evolves when exposed to high temperature. Scanning electron microscopy and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) were conducted to determine grain size and grain boundary character and orientation to determine the degree of change in the ZrC layer post heat treatment. Raman spectroscopy provided insight to understand how the as-fabricated stoichiometry of each sample contributed to the differences in grain growth behavior. Despite the as-fabricated samples showing a similar initial grain size and grain boundary character, the samples with a higher amount of excess carbon exhibited smaller grain areas and slower growth rates when exposed to 1900 °C. In conclusion, this investigation details the as-fabricated microstructure of the ZrC layer, specifically grain size, evolved under high temperature as this can impact the performance of the fuel under operating conditions.

EBSD↗
DOE OSTI2016

Mechanical behavior and microstructure of Ti{sub 20}Hf{sub 20}Zr{sub 20}Ta{sub 20}Nb{sub 20} high-entropy alloy loaded under quasi-static and dynamic compression conditions

The microstructure and the mechanical behavior of equimolar Ti{sub 20}Hf{sub 20}Zr{sub 20}Ta{sub 20}Nb{sub 20} high-entropy alloy in a wide range of initial strain rates between ~ 10{sup −3} s{sup −1} and ~ 3.4 × 10{sup 3} s{sup −1} were studied. A significant increment in the yield strength with increasing strain rate was observed. The yield strength at ~ 3.4 × 10{sup 3} s{sup −1} was about 40% higher than that measured at ~ 10{sup −3} s{sup −1}. Analysis by electron backscatter diffraction shows that in the low strain rate regime (up to ~ 10 s{sup −1}) the deformation occurs mainly in evenly distributed bands, while in the dynamic regime the deformation is strongly localized in macroscopic shear bands accompanied by softening even after the onset of yielding. The Kernel Average Misorientation technique reveals a high level of lattice rotation within these bands that also carries intense shear. In addition, X-ray diffraction line profile analysis indicates that the sharp increase in the flow stress is mostly related to an increase of the dislocation density. - Highlights: • Strain rate effect on the plastic behavior of Ti{sub 20}Hf{sub 20}Zr{sub 20}Ta{sub 20}Nb{sub 20} HEA was studied. • Low strain rate regime was characterized by a continuous hardening. • At high strain rates softening occurred shortly after the onset of yielding. • Intense strain localization in shear bands occurred in the high strain rate regime. • High dislocation density explained the upturn of flow stress at high strain rates.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Investigation of temperature dependent microstructure evolution of pure iron during friction stir welding using liquid CO2 rapid cooling

Highlights: • Microstructure evolution during the FSW of pure iron was investigated under low and high heat input conditions, respectively. • Rapid cooling, tool stop action, marker insert and short-time annealing were employed to clarify the microstructure evolution. • Continuous and discontinuous dynamic recrystallizations occur during the microstructure evolution under both the conditions. • Incomplete and complete recrystallized microstructures were developed severally under the low and high heat input conditions. • Grain growth occurs during the normal cooling stage but it is very limited under the low heat input condition. - Abstract: The microstructure evolution of pure iron during friction stir welding was reconstructed by an ingenious experimental design, in which the rapid cooling friction stir welding combined with the tool “stop action” technique and the subsequent short-time annealing were adopted to “freeze” the transient microstructure during the stirring and reproduce the normal cooling during conventional friction stir welding, respectively. The microstructure evolution during the stirring and normal cooling was investigated along the material flow path and in the annealed “frozen” weld zone by high-resolution electron-backscatter-diffraction technique. The results show that the continuous and discontinuous dynamic recrystallizations occur simultaneously at the severe deformation stage in front of the tool both under low and high heat input conditions. However, during the material flow, the microstructure evolution involves the plastic deformation, recrystallization, high angle boundaries migration and dynamic recovery under the low heat input condition, while in a dynamic balance of deformation, recrystallization and grain growth under the high heat input conditions. At the cooling stage, normal grain growth occurs both for the low and high heat input welding conditions, while it is very limited for the low heat input condition.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Microstructural evolution and hardness response in the laser beam welded joints of pure titanium during recrystallization and grain growth

Highlights: • The LABs and high local misorientations indicate the existence of plastic strains in the as-welded HAZ and FZ. • During heat treatment the recrystallization occurs in the HAZs, decreasing plastic strains, but it doesn't appear in the FZs. • The coarse and unstrained grains gradually replace the fine and strained ones in the HAZs during recrystallization. • The decrease of plastic strains in the HAZs during recrystallization causes the descent of average hardness values based on the strain strengthening. - Abstract: Microstructural evolution and hardness response in the laser beam welded joints of pure titanium during recrystallization and grain growth were investigated by means of electron backscatter diffraction and hardness measurement. The low-angle boundaries (LABs) and high local misorientations, in the as-welded heat affected zone (HAZ) and fusion zone (FZ), indicate the existence of plastic strains caused by the plastic strains due to the thermal stress and the non-equilibrium phase transformations. The recrystallization occurs in the HAZs during heat treatment, but the grain growth after recrystallization does not appear under the heat treatment conditions. Moreover as a result of the slightly high impurity contents in the as-welded FZ, no distinct recrystallization is found in the FZs in this work. During recrystallization in the HAZs, the coarse and unstrained grains with equiaxed shape and smooth boundary gradually consume the fine and strained ones with irregular shape and serrate boundary. Meanwhile, the LABs disappear and the low local misorientations replace the high ones in the modified grains. The recrystallization during heat treatment causes the decrease of plastic strains in the HAZs, which reflects on the descent of average hardness values based on the strain strengthening.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Hot deformation behavior and flow stress modeling of a Ni-based superalloy

The deformation behavior of a novel Ni-based superalloy was investigated using isothermal compression on a Gleeble system at temperatures between 1050 and 1210 °C with strain rates between 0.001 and 0.1 s –1 . Flow-stress curves and electron backscatter diffraction maps were employed to experimentally identify the various flow mechanisms operative during deformation. Deformation at temperatures below 1130 °C presented strong work hardening with limited restoration during dynamic softening leading to partially recrystallized microstructures. Increasing the deformation temperature to and above 1130°C enhanced the driving force for dislocation and grain boundary mobility thereby enabling dynamic recovery (DRV) and dynamic recrystallization (DRX) mechanisms to better operate. Here, the influence of the strain rate was more evident during deformation at these temperatures. Increasing the strain rate from 0.001 s –1 to 0.1 s –1 resulted in a transition in dominant softening mechanism from DRV to DRX. Flow stress modeling using the Zener-Hollomon parameter was performed to obtain the activation energy and the constitutive equation for hot deformation of the alloy. Strong changes in flow behavior affected the accuracy of the flow stress model, and thus, the model was used alternatively to identify deformation parameters associated with various flow regimes. In doing so, the activation energy and the other equation constants were obtained for each deformation mechanism observed experimentally.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Complexity of deformation mechanism in neutron-irradiated 304L austenitic stainless steel at microstructural scale

The deformation mechanisms of neutron-irradiated 304 L stainless steel have been investigated using the in-situ electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) technique. To decipher the role of irradiation, a detailed analysis was performed on irradiated miniature samples and compared with nonirradiated samples. Furthermore, at three levels of engineering strain, —0.0%, 4.8%, and 14.5%—microstructural features as well as EBSD were recorded at the identical location during in-situ deformation testing. Post-mortem analysis of the EBSD data revealed that the neutron-irradiated samples had higher fractions of the slip bands even at low amounts of deformation. Along with the slip bands, the neutron-irradiated sample showed the twins and martensitic phase formed almost parallel to the slip bands. In addition, the image results also indicated that the formation of twins and phases associated with the slip bands. A detailed mechanistic understanding has been investigated to identify the (111)γ planes orientation with respect to the loading direction associated with the formation of twins and martensite. The newly formed deformation twins and martensite were also found to maintain this relationship when they existed together.

304L austenitic stainless steel↗
DOE OSTI2022

Austenitic parent grain reconstruction in martensitic steel using deep learning

In this work we develop a deep convolutional architecture to estimate the prior austenite structure from observed martensite electron backscatter diffraction micrographs. A novel data augmentation strategy randomizes the global reference coordinate system which makes it possible to train our model from only four micrographs. The model is much faster than algorithmic approaches and generalizes well when applied to micrographs of a different material. Empirical evidence suggests the efficacy of the model depends on the scale of the microstructure and receptive field of the vision model. Furthermore, this work demonstrates that modern computer vision approaches are well suited for capturing complex spatial-orientation patterns present in orientation imaging micrographs.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗