Heavy Ion Irradiation Effects in Zr Excel Alloy Pressure Tube Material

Abstract

Zirconium Excel alloy (Zr-3.5wt.%Sn-0.8%Nb-0.8%Mo) is the candidate material for pressure tubes in the Generation-IV CANDU® Super Critical Water-cooled Reactor (SCWR) design. Changes in microstructure induced by neutron irradiation are known to have important consequences on the in-reactor deformation behavior. The in-situ ion irradiation technique has been employed to elucidate the irradiation damage in dual phase Zr-excel alloy (~60% hcp alpha and ~40% bcc beta). 1 MeV Kr ion irradiation experiments were conducted at different temperatures ranging from 100°C-400°C. Damage microstructures have been characterized by Transmission Electron Microscopy in both the alpha and beta phases at different temperatures after a maximum dose of 10 dpa. Several new observations including irradiation induced omega (ω) phase precipitation have been reported. The ω/β orientation relationship was determined by the detailed analysis of selected area diffraction patterns. In-situ irradiation provided an opportunity to observe the nucleation and growth of basal plane c-component loops. It has been shown that under Kr ion irradiation the c-loops start to nucleate and grow above a threshold dose, as has been observed for neutron irradiation. Furthermore, the role of temperature, material composition and pre-irradiation microstructure has been discussed in detail.