Effect of temperature and hydrogen concentration on the threshold stress intensity factor of radial delayed hydride cracking in fuel cladding

Three-point bending tests provide the ability to measure the propagation of axially oriented cracks in thin-walled fuel cladding in a radial outside-in direction. Via three-point bending, unirradiated Zircaloy-2 cladding containing 155 and 305 wppm hydrogen was mechanically loaded at different tempe...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bertsch, J. (Author), Colldeweih, A.W (Author)
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier B.V. 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:View Fulltext in Publisher
LEADER 02719nam a2200373Ia 4500
001 10.1016-j.jnucmat.2022.153737
008 220517s2022 CNT 000 0 und d
020 |a 00223115 (ISSN) 
245 1 0 |a Effect of temperature and hydrogen concentration on the threshold stress intensity factor of radial delayed hydride cracking in fuel cladding 
260 0 |b Elsevier B.V.  |c 2022 
856 |z View Fulltext in Publisher  |u https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2022.153737 
520 3 |a Three-point bending tests provide the ability to measure the propagation of axially oriented cracks in thin-walled fuel cladding in a radial outside-in direction. Via three-point bending, unirradiated Zircaloy-2 cladding containing 155 and 305 wppm hydrogen was mechanically loaded at different temperatures, sufficient to initiate delayed hydride cracking (DHC) whereupon the unloading rate was fast enough to arrest further propagation. The crack front dimensions were measured through fractography and implemented with the final load into a finite element model (FEM). Given the average crack length and final load, the FEM was able to back-calculate the stress intensity factor. Over a temperature range of 210–330 °C, around 6 MPa√m was calculated as the minimum threshold stress intensity factor for DHC. The trend shows that the ideal temperature for DHC with lowest threshold stress intensity factors may depend on the hydrogen concentration, and that the threshold stress intensity factors quickly increase with higher test temperatures. It has also been shown that creep affects the threshold stress intensity factor for optimal DHC less for lower hydrogen concentrations than for higher hydrogen concentrations. At low hydrogen concentration, the temperature of terminal solid solubility for precipitation (TSSP) is low enough so that creep-induced crack tip rounding plays a less significant role compared to the hydrogen kinetics. © 2022 The Authors 
650 0 4 |a Bending tests 
650 0 4 |a Crack tips 
650 0 4 |a Creep 
650 0 4 |a Delayed Hydride cracking 
650 0 4 |a Effect of hydrogen 
650 0 4 |a Effects of temperature 
650 0 4 |a Finite element modelling (FEM) 
650 0 4 |a Fuel cladding 
650 0 4 |a Hydrides 
650 0 4 |a Hydrogen 
650 0 4 |a Hydrogen concentration 
650 0 4 |a Low hydrogen concentration 
650 0 4 |a Stress intensity factors 
650 0 4 |a Temperature concentration 
650 0 4 |a Thin walled structures 
650 0 4 |a Three-point bending test 
650 0 4 |a Threshold stress intensity factor 
650 0 4 |a Unloading 
650 0 4 |a Zirconium alloys 
700 1 |a Bertsch, J.  |e author 
700 1 |a Colldeweih, A.W.  |e author 
773 |t Journal of Nuclear Materials