High-temperature oxidation of Zr-4 and Zr-1Nb-O alloys: Influencing factors, oxidation behaviors and mechanisms

IF 1.9 3区工程技术 Q1 NUCLEAR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Nuclear Engineering and Design Pub Date : 2025-03-14 DOI:10.1016/j.nucengdes.2025.113979

Huanteng Liu , Donghai Xu , Guanyu Jiang , Xueling Fan , Guangyi Liu

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Under loss-of-coolant accidents, the oxidation rate of zircaloy rapidly increases, which can cause cladding failure and pose serious safety risks. Thus, enhancing the oxidation resistance of zircaloy is of utmost importance to ensure the safe utilization of a nuclear power. This work provides a comprehensive review on influencing factors and mechanisms for high-temperature oxidation performance of Zr-4 and Zr-1Nb-O alloys. These factors mainly include alloying composition, oxidizing atmosphere, oxidation temperature, pre-oxidation, irradiation, and hydrogen absorption. Oxidation kinetics, behavior, and mechanisms in steam, O₂ and air are thoroughly discussed, and a comparative analysis of oxidation kinetics is presented. Overall, the addition of Nb enhances the oxidation resistance of zircaloy. In air, the oxidation rate of zircaloy is notably faster compared with that in steam and O₂ environments due to the formation of ZrN. At elevated temperatures, the critical size of zirconia increases, leading to a phase transition and a reduction in the volume fraction of monoclinic zirconia. The phase transition makes the zirconia oxide layer crack and less stable. Pre-oxidation at low temperatures in O₂ or steam significantly improves the oxidation resistance of samples. The formation of oxides during the oxidation process of zircaloy is controlled by O^2– diffusion. The breakaway oxidation of zircaloys occurs as a result of the transformation from tetragonal to monoclinic phase of zirconia, as well as stress relaxation of oxides and evolution of oxide morphology when reaching critical thickness.

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来源期刊

Nuclear Engineering and Design 工程技术-核科学技术

CiteScore

3.40

自引率

11.80%

发文量

377

审稿时长

5 months

期刊介绍： Nuclear Engineering and Design covers the wide range of disciplines involved in the engineering, design, safety and construction of nuclear fission reactors. The Editors welcome papers both on applied and innovative aspects and developments in nuclear science and technology. Fundamentals of Reactor Design include: • Thermal-Hydraulics and Core Physics • Safety Analysis, Risk Assessment (PSA) • Structural and Mechanical Engineering • Materials Science • Fuel Behavior and Design • Structural Plant Design • Engineering of Reactor Components • Experiments Aspects beyond fundamentals of Reactor Design covered: • Accident Mitigation Measures • Reactor Control Systems • Licensing Issues • Safeguard Engineering • Economy of Plants • Reprocessing / Waste Disposal • Applications of Nuclear Energy • Maintenance • Decommissioning Papers on new reactor ideas and developments (Generation IV reactors) such as inherently safe modular HTRs, High Performance LWRs/HWRs and LMFBs/GFR will be considered; Actinide Burners, Accelerator Driven Systems, Energy Amplifiers and other special designs of power and research reactors and their applications are also encouraged.