Thesis (Sc.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, 1981. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND SCIENCE. / Vita. / Includes bibliographical references. / by David Bruce Knorr. / Sc.D.

Zircaloy-2 and its sister alloy, Zircaloy-4, have extensive applications in the nuclear industry as core components in heavy water reactors and fuel cladding in both heavy and light water reactors. Intergranular stresses and texture can greatly affect the mechanical performance of these components. A complete understanding of the development of intergranular constraints and texture in Zircaloy-2 will allow an improved understanding of the plastic deformation of zirconium alloys, and the prediction of in-reactor deformation of tubes made by different manufacturing routes. Neutron diffraction was used to track the development of lattice strain and peak intensity in three dimensions for various crystallographic planes in samples cut from a rolled Zircaloy-2 slab. The samples were subject to room temperature compression or tension in-situ in the neutron spectrometer in each of the three principal directions of the slab. Textures in the deformed samples were measured using neutron diffraction. Strong evidence was found for tensile twinning in tensile tests in the plate normal direction and compression tests in the transverse and rolling directions. The lattice strain development inside the newly formed twins was recorded for the first time in a Zr alloy. An elasto-plastic self-consistent model and a visco-plastic self-consistent model were used to interpret the lattice strain and texture data, respectively. Various slip and twinning modes were considered in both models. Prism <a> slip, basal <a> slip, pyramidal <c+a> slip and tensile twinning were concluded to be indispensable, while pyramidal <a> slip was unnecessary in the modeling. The critical resolved shear stresses and hardening parameters were obtained by simultaneously achieving a ‘best-fit’ with the complete experimental data set. The effects of anisotropic latent hardening due to dislocation interactions were found to be critical, and the inclusion of Lankford coefficients as modeling constraints was necessary. This research provided a comprehensive experimental data set obtained by neutron diffraction, forming a sound basis to investigate active plastic deformation mechanisms and to rigorously test plasticity models and twinning models. The research also made a substantial improvement in understanding the plastic deformation of Zircaloy-2 through polycrystalline modeling by introducing extensive data sets to constrain the modeling parameters. / Thesis (Ph.D, Mechanical and Materials Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2007-12-21 11:56:23.743 / NSERC, COG, OPG and Nu-Tech Precision Metals

Zircaloy-2 is used extensively in the nuclear industry as a structural material for the reactor core in both light and heavy water reactors. The intergranular strains and texture greatly affect the mechanical properties of the material while in operation. Understanding the plastic deformation of Zircaloy-2 will improve on current plastic deformation models, particularly for twinning mechanisms, which are more active at lower temperatures, and are not yet well understood. For this study, neutron diffraction was used to track the lattice spacing and peak intensity in warm-rolled and recrystallized Zircaloy-2 slab for various crystallographic orientations at 77 K. Tests were performed in all three principle directions under tension and compression. The texture was measured for the deformed samples to help interpret the dominant deformation systems and then Electron Back Scattering Diffraction was used to identify and image the active twinning modes. Prism <a> slip, basal <a> slip, {10-12} and {11-2 1} tensile twinning, and {11-2 2} compression twinning were found to be contributing deformation systems in Zircaloy-2 at 77K. In this study, the diffraction elastic constants for Zircaloy-2 at room temperature and 77K are reported for the first time in open literature. These values will be useful in future experimental work by allowing a conversion between lattice spacing and residual stress. / Thesis (Master, Mechanical and Materials Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2009-09-24 13:41:25.371

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Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, 1980. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND SCIENCE. / Includes bibliographical references. / by Pierre Leon Jacques Chemelle. / M.S.

The solute strengthening due to oxygen in Zircaloy-2 was investigated over the temperature range 1023 to 1873 K. The flow stress was determined in constant true strain rate hot compression over the strain rate 10('-4)-10('-1)s('-1). In order to provide data for LOCA modelling, the 0 concentration range 1260 to 12360 ppm was investigated. For the single phase (alpha) and (beta) materials, the flow curves were normal, whereas the ((alpha)+(beta)) materials exhibited significant yield drops and strain aging, especially when over 50 vol.% (beta) was present. These effects are attributed to the enrichment of the (beta) phase by the solutes Fe and Cr, which are considered to form ordered zones of the Zr(Fe,Cr)(,2) type in the vicinity of dislocations. The flow stress for both the (alpha) and (beta) Zircaloy-2 obeyed the relationship (sigma) = (sigma)(,0) exp(kc), where (sigma)(,0) and k are constants and c is the wt.% 0. The experimental values indicated that 0 strengthens the (beta) phase less effectively than the (alpha) phase. Rule of mixtures calculations were carried out to predict the flow stresses of the ((alpha)+(beta)) alloys; these agreed reasonably well with the experimental data, as long as due allowance was made for the 0 enrichment and 0 empoverishment of the (alpha) and (beta) phases, respectively. / Within the experimental range, the rate sensitivities increased with temperature from 0.13 to 0.20 and from 0.27 to 0.32 for the fully (alpha) and fully (beta) materials. By contrast, the m vs. T curves for the two-phase materials were marked by a rapid increase in m near the beginning and end of the ((alpha)+(beta)) domain, with a dip at large (beta) fractions, particularly in the high 0 alloys. The dip in rate sensitivity was associated with significant strain aging. The experimental activation energies decreased with stress from 440 to 330 kJ/mol (50 to 140 MPa) and from 150 to 125 kJ/mol (1 to 5 MPa) for the (alpha) and (beta) Zircaloy-2 respectively. The extrapolated zero-stress values of Q increased with 0 concentration from 520 to 570 kJ/mol and from 170 to 260 kJ/mol for the (alpha) and (beta) materials, respectively. These data indicate that high temperature dynamic recovery is easier to activate in the (beta) phase but is more sensitive to oxygen than is (alpha) Zircaloy-2.

Thesis (Nucl.E.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Nuclear Engineering, 1981. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND SCIENCE. / Includes bibliographical references. / by John Edward Rivera. / Nucl.E.

Thesis (Nucl.E.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Nuclear Engineering, 1981. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND SCIENCE. / Includes bibliographical references. / by El-Khider Si Ahmed. / Nucl.E.

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