Effects of Cooling Rates on Hydride Reorientation and Mechanical Properties of Zirconium Alloy Claddings under Interim Dry Storage Conditions

As-received Zr-Nb cladding tubes and 600 ppm hydrogen-charged tubes were employed to evaluate the effects of cladding cooling rates on the extent of hydride reorientation from circumferential hydrides to radial ones and mechanical property degradations with the use of cooling rates of 2, 4 and 15 °C/min from 400 °C to room temperature simulating cladding cooling under interim dry storage conditions. The as-received cladding tubes generated nearly the same ultimate tensile strengths and plastic elongations, regardless of the cooling rates, because of a negligible hydrogen content in the cladding. The 600 ppm-H cladding tubes indicate that the slower cooling rate generated the larger radial hydride fraction and the longer radial hydrides, which resulted in greater mechanical performance degradations. The cooling rate of 2 °C/min generates an ultimate tensile strength of 758 MPa and a plastic elongation of 1.0%, whereas the cooling rate of 15 °C/min generates an ultimate tensile strength of 825 MPa and a plastic elongation of 15.0%. These remarkable mechanical property degradations of the 600 ppm-H cladding tubes with the slowest cooling rate may be characterized by cleavage fracture surface appearance enhanced by longer radial hydrides and their higher fraction that have been precipitated through a relatively larger nucleation and growth rate.