Operable deformation systems and mechanical behavior of textured Zircaloy tubing

The slip and twinning systems known to operate in zirconium and Zircaloy are discussed with respect to the mechanical behavior of Zircaloy tubes. For extreme basal pole orientations in the radial and tangential directions, different stress-strain conditions in the tube cause different deformation systems to operate. The effects of the stress-strain conditions are discussed for axial tension and compression, internal and external pressure, axial bending, tube collapse, and axial torsion. The predictions of short time properties for strongly textured radial and tangential tubing are compared with experimental results. The method of taking tubes from a textured plate has proved suitable for studying texture as a parameter not only in the extreme positions discussed here but also at intermediate positions. This technique guarantees that other parameters, such as the degree of deformation and recrystallization, grain size, segregation, etc., are constant since all the variants of texture are present in one single tube.