Effects of Texture and Microstructure on the Mechanical Properties of Heat-Treated Zircaloy-4

Abstract

The effects of texture transformation and microstructure development on the mechanical properties of Zircaloy-4 were investigated after (a+P) and P heat treatment. The texture after (a+P) heat treatment was mostly inherited from the prior a phase texture, but it was altered by grain growth. The location of maximum basal pole intensity was distributed between the rolling direction and the transverse direction. The transformed microstructure was a mixture of the hard primary a and the soft transformed a. On the other hand, the texture after P heat treatment became randomized by rapid grain growth. The P-transformed microstructure consisted of parallel plate a and basketweave a. The mechanical properties of the heat treated Zircaloy-4 were discussed in relation to the textures and microstructures.