Fracture toughness embrittlement by hydride in Zr-2.5Nb pressure tube

Unpredictable failures can occur due to the DHC(Delayed Hydride Cracking) or the degradation of fracture toughness by hydride embrittlement in CANDU pressure tube which can result from the absorption of hydrogen or deuterium in the high temperature coolant. To investigate the hydride embrittlement of CANDU Zr-2.5Nb pressure tube, the transverse tensile test and the fracture toughness test were performed from room temperature to 300 .deg. C using three different specimens which have an AR(As Received), 100, and 200 ppm hydrogen. As the amount of absorbed hydrogen was increased, the transverse yield strength and the ultimate tensile strength were also increased. In addition, as the test temperature became higher they were decreased linearly. While, at room temperature, the hydrogenabsorbed specimens represented the embrittlement which resulted in sudden decreasing of fracture toughness, the fracture characteristics became ductile such as AR specimen at high temperatures. Through the observation of fracture surface using SEM, it was found that the stress state of mixed mode could be related to the fissure which was believed to decrease the global fracture toughness