Study of phase transformation of U-2,5Zr-7,5Nb e U-3Zr-9Nb alloys for application in advanced nuclear fuel

Metal fuels are relevant in the nuclear area due to the versatility of its use in the nuclear fuel cycle. Among the alloys of uranium investigated with high potential for use in nuclear power reactors, U-Zr-Nb alloys appear as an important alternative because of their superior physico-chemical and metallurgical properties. These alloys have also potential for use in nuclear testing, research and production radioisotopes of high performance nuclear reactors. Therefore, the development of these alloys is strategic since they are planned to be used in national reactors as RMB (Brazilian Multipurpose Reactor) and LABGENE (Electrical Generation Core Laboratory), currently under development in Brazil. In this work it was realized a extensive study in the scope of the manufacturing, heat treatment and phase transformations of U-2,5Zr-7,5Nb (m/m%) and U-3ZR-9NB (m/m%) fuel alloys. Ingots of both alloys were produced employing a specific methodology developed in this study. This methodology comprised the melting process in a vacuum induction furnace at high temperatures (1500 °C) and thermal-mechanical processing to break the as-cast structure. Samples with typical dimensions (17 x 7 x 2.5 mm) free from macrostructural defects were homogenized at 1000 °C in vacuum of 10^-5 torr for 17.5 hours with a 10°C/min cooling rate until to 820 °C and, subsequently, quenched in water. The samples, randomly selected, were subjected to isothermal treatment tests under different conditions of time and temperature. Isothermal treatments for transformation and retention phases were carried out in a special assembly designed for this work. After the tests, the samples were characterized by the usual phase characterization techniques with particular emphasis for the X-ray diffraction technique. In this way, the Rietveld refinement method was applied. In the case of uranium based alloys it is quite challenging due to the lack of data in the literature. In this work a strategy for the Rietveld refinement with an extensive study of refinement parameters was established. The results allowed to establish a comparative study with the few results available in the literature and to obtain the TTT diagrams of initial transformation for both alloys. Finally, this work provides significant innovations to the field of knowledge of the alloys studied which will contribute to the development of nuclear fuel for high performance nuclear reactors. (author)