Hot temperature corrosion of a zircon-1%niobium alloy

The reaction of the Zr-1%Niobium alloy to corrosion is studied in this work, which is used as fuel elements sheath material in Russian VVER reactors. For comparative purposes, the conventional alloys Zircaloy-4 y Zr-2.5%Nb have been tested as well. Autoclave tests were carried out in water and in solutions of LiOH with concentrations of 0-1 to 1M at 343oC and in water vapor at 400oC (following ASTM G2/G2M-06). The gain in weight/unit of area of the autoclaved samples was determined in order to evaluate the corrosion, and metallographics were performed to characterize the oxides and hydrides that formed. The results show that for tests of 16 hours, a minimum concentration of 0.65M LiOH is needed to accelerate corrosion in Zr-1%Nb and Zr-2.5%Nb, while acceleration occurs in Zircaloy-4 at a concentration of 0.45M. In solutions of LiOH 1M the hydrogen 'uptake' in Zr-1Nb and Zr-2,5Nb is considerably lower in Zircaloy-4. The lesser amount of β-Zr phase present in the Zr-1Nb alloy produces thinner and more compact oxides, with better visual characteristics than for those formed in Zr-2.5Nb