Texture and Creep Anisotropy in Zirconium Alloys

Abstract

Zirconium (Zr) alloys are best known for their use in nuclear reactor applications. A hexagonally close-packed structure with a low c/a ratio and very limited slip systems leads to strong textures in these alloys during fabrication processes. These alloys are used in cladding applications for encapsulating fuel pellets, and undergo various stress conditions in-service. Hence, it is necessary to understand the creep properties of Zr alloys to predict the life of reactor claddings. Due to the unique texture, the creep deformation of these alloys is anisotropic in nature. The texture of Zircaloys was determined by X-ray diffraction experiments, and expressed in terms of pole figures and crystalline orientation distribution functions. Biaxial creep testing of thin walled tubing was used to study the creep anisotropy. Creep loci evaluation based on the experimental data and model predictions are compared. It is found that the models can predict the creep loci for recrystallized alloy very well. However, they fail to explain the behavior of the cold worked alloys. When stress enhancements due to the grain boundary sliding are taken into account, the predicted creep loci correlated well with that constructed from the experimental data.