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- Title
Carburization Kinetics of Zircalloy-4 and Its Implication for Small Modular Reactor Performance.
- Authors
Kardoulaki, Erofili; Abdul-Jabbar, Najeb; Byler, Darrin; Hassan, Md Mehadi; Mann, Shane; Coons, Tim; White, Josh
- Abstract
Carburization of cladding materials has long been a concern for the nuclear industry and has led to the restricted use of high-thermal conductivity fuels such as uranium carbides. With the rise of small modular reactors (SMRs) that frequently implement a graphite core-block, carburization of reactor components is once more in the foreground as a potential failure mechanism. To ensure commercial viability for SMRs, neutron-friendly cladding materials such as Zr-based alloys are required. In this work, the carburization kinetics of Zircaloy-4 (Zry-4), for the temperature range 1073–1673 K (covering typical operating temperatures and off-normal scenarios) are established. The following Arrhenius relationship for the parabolic constant describing ZrC growth is derived: Kp (in μm2/s) = 609.35 exp(−1.505 × 105/RT)). Overall, the ZrC growth is sluggish below 1473 K which is within the operational temperature range of SMRs. In all cases the ZrC that forms from solid state reaction is hypo-stoichiometric, as confirmed through XRD. The hardness and elastic modulus of carburized Zry-4 are also examined and it is shown that despite the formation of a ZrC layer, C ingress in the Zry-4 bulk does not impact the mechanical response after carburization at 1073 K and 1473 K for 96 h.
- Subjects
CARBURIZATION; URANIUM as fuel; IMPACT (Mechanics); ELASTIC modulus; NUCLEAR fuel claddings; NUCLEAR industry
- Publication
Materials (1996-1944), 2022, Vol 15, Issue 22, p8008
- ISSN
1996-1944
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3390/ma15228008