Thermo-oxidation kinetics experiments of CuCrZr in steam environments up to 1000 ⁰C

Abstract

The use of CuCrZr alloys is proposed for some nuclear fusion reactor assembly designs; however, there is relatively little understanding on the effects of steam line ruptures. In this work, the parabolic oxidation properties of both Oxygen-Free High Conductivity (OFHC) copper and a CuCrZr alloy were investigated in oxygen and steam environments to provide a baseline for future comparison of CuCrZr alloys to other copper materials. A NETZSCH 449 F1 Simultaneous Thermal Analyzer (STA) was utilized to perform thermogravimetric measurements of oxidizing copper specimens such that parabolic oxidation rate constants could be calculated for a series of temperatures. A comparison between the trends observed within this work and existing literature was then performed, and the overall trends analysed. The trends indicate that in both oxygen and steam environments, the parabolic oxidation rate for CuCrZr alloys was lower than that of OFHC and other pure copper metals.