Delayed hydride cracking of Zr-2.5Nb tubes with the notch tip shape and cooling rate

The objective of this study is to investigate the Delayed Hydride Cracking (DHC) velocity and the incubation time for the water-quenched and furnace-cooled Zr-2.5Nb tube with the different radius of a notch tip. DHC tests were carried out at constant KI of 20 MPa√m and 250 .deg. C on the Cantilever Beam(CB) specimens subjected to furnace cooling or water quenching after electrolytic charging with 57 or 72 ppm hydrogen, respectively. An acoustic emission sensor was attached to the CB specimens to detect the incubation time before the start of DHC. The shape of the notch tip changed from the fatigue crack to the dull crack with its radius ranging from 0.1 to 0.15 mm. The DHC incubation time increased remarkably with the increasing radius of the notch tip, which appeared more strikingly on the furnace-cooled CB specimens than on the water-quenched ones. However, both furnace-cooled and water-quenched CB specimens indicated little change in the DHC velocity with the radius of the notch tip unless their notch tip exceeded 0.125 mm. These results demonstrate that the nucleation rate of hydrides at the notch tip determines the incubation time and the DHC velocity becomes constant after the concentration of hydrogen at the notch tip reaches the Terminal Solid Solubility for Dissolution (TSSD). This observation agrees well with Kim's DHC model. A difference in the incubation time and the DHC velocity between the furnace-cooled and water-quenched specimens is discussed in terms of the nucleation rate of hydrides at the notch tip and the hysteresis of hydrogen solubility