HETEROGENEOUS MICROSTRUCTURE AND TEXTURE EVOLUTION DURING FABRICATION OF Zr--Sn--Nb ZIRCONIUM ALLOY SHEETS

Abstract

Zirconium alloys are widely used as fuel cladding and structural materials for nuclear reactors due to the low neutron absorption cross-section, good corrosion resistance and acceptable mechanical properties. These properties are greatly dependent on microstructural and textural features, such as grain morphology, grain size, crystallographic texture and distribution of precipitates. It is necessary to understand microstructure and texture evolution during fabrication in order to optimize the manufacturing process and to improve the service performance. In this work, microstructure and texture evolution during fabrication of Zr-Sn-Nb new zirconium alloy sheets are investigated using XRD, SEM-ECC, TEM and EBSD. The results show that the random texture formed by β quenching transforms into tilt basal texture after hot rolling. The basal texture keeps stable during the following

Texture and Twinning Evolution of Cold-Rolled Industrial Pure Zirconium

“…Following hot-rolling experiments on zirconium alloy sheets, Chen Jianwei [22] observed that when there was an initial preference for the transverse direction in texture, the resulting texture after both hot and cold rolling resulted in a < 10 -10 >//RD basal texture. Luan, Xiao et al [23] conducted rolling experiments on annealed pure zirconium sheets, which initially exhibited a double-peak texture at room temperature. They observed that the texture remained largely consistent throughout the rolling process, with a gradual concentration along the ND direction.…”