Mechanical behaviors of Cr coating on Zircaloy tubes prepared by pulsed laser deposition

IF 3.2 2区工程技术 Q3 MATERIALS SCIENCE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Journal of Nuclear Materials Pub Date : 2025-09-04 DOI:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2025.156149

Ziqi Wei , Bo Li , Lijuan Cui , John Andrew Kane Jovellana , Zideng Wang , Zongda Yang , Huilong Yang , Sho Kano , Toshiyasu O , Hiroaki Abe

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Abstract

Chromium-coated Zircaloy cladding is one promising candidate for accident-tolerant fuel (ATF), yet its mechanical reliability under loading remains insufficiently understood. This study aims to investigate the cracking behavior and fracture resistance of a thin nanocrystalline/amorphous chromium (Cr) coating fabricated by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) under hoop tensile strain. A 350-nm-thick Cr bilayer coating was deposited onto Zircaloy-4 substrates, and its hoop tensile response was evaluated using the advanced expansion due to compression (A-EDC) test. Key mechanical properties, including Young’s modulus (227 GPa), hardness (13.3 GPa), and residual stress (-1450 MPa), were measured by nanoindentation and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Detailed analyses by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed the evolution of transverse and slanted cracks under increasing strain, with a superior first cracking strain of 3.2 %. A crack density-strain relationship was established and used to estimate the fracture strength (5.8 GPa) and interfacial shear strength (980 MPa) via a shear-lag model. The findings highlight the mechanical advantages of the nanocrystalline/amorphous structure, including grain refinement strengthening and the ductile-buffering effect of the amorphous layer. This study provides a new mechanical perspective for advancing the Cr-coated Zircaloy claddings for ATF applications.

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脉冲激光沉积锆合金管表面Cr涂层的力学行为

铬包覆锆包层是一种很有前途的耐事故燃料（ATF），但其在载荷下的机械可靠性仍未得到充分的了解。研究了脉冲激光沉积（PLD）法制备的纳米晶/非晶铬（Cr）薄膜在环向拉伸应变下的开裂行为和抗断裂性能。在Zircaloy-4衬底上沉积了一层350 nm厚的Cr双层涂层，并利用A- edc （advanced expansion due to compression）测试对其环向拉伸响应进行了评价。通过纳米压痕和x射线衍射（XRD）测试了杨氏模量（227 GPa）、硬度（13.3 GPa）和残余应力（-1450 MPa）等关键力学性能。扫描电镜（SEM）分析表明，在应变增加的情况下，横向裂纹和斜向裂纹逐渐演化，第一裂纹应变达到3.2%。建立了裂纹密度-应变关系，并通过剪切滞后模型估计了断裂强度（5.8 GPa）和界面抗剪强度（980 MPa）。这些发现突出了纳米晶/非晶结构的力学优势，包括晶粒细化强化和非晶层的延性缓冲作用。该研究为推进ATF中cr包覆锆合金包层的研究提供了新的力学视角。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Nuclear Materials 工程技术-材料科学：综合

CiteScore

5.70

自引率

25.80%

发文量

601

审稿时长

63 days

期刊介绍： The Journal of Nuclear Materials publishes high quality papers in materials research for nuclear applications, primarily fission reactors, fusion reactors, and similar environments including radiation areas of charged particle accelerators. Both original research and critical review papers covering experimental, theoretical, and computational aspects of either fundamental or applied nature are welcome. The breadth of the field is such that a wide range of processes and properties in the field of materials science and engineering is of interest to the readership, spanning atom-scale processes, microstructures, thermodynamics, mechanical properties, physical properties, and corrosion, for example. Topics covered by JNM Fission reactor materials, including fuels, cladding, core structures, pressure vessels, coolant interactions with materials, moderator and control components, fission product behavior. Materials aspects of the entire fuel cycle. Materials aspects of the actinides and their compounds. Performance of nuclear waste materials; materials aspects of the immobilization of wastes. Fusion reactor materials, including first walls, blankets, insulators and magnets. Neutron and charged particle radiation effects in materials, including defects, transmutations, microstructures, phase changes and macroscopic properties. Interaction of plasmas, ion beams, electron beams and electromagnetic radiation with materials relevant to nuclear systems.