Effect of ion polishing on corrosion resistance of the cladding of fuel elements from E110 alloy in the steam water environment

• Published in: Inorganic materials : applied research Vol. 8; no. 3; pp. 364 - 369
• Main Authors: Kalin, B. A., Volkov, N. V., Valikov, R. A., Yashin, A. S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Moscow Pleiades Publishing 2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Alloys; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Cladding; Cleaning; Corrosion effects; Corrosion resistant alloys; Effects of Energy Fluxes on Materials; Energy consumption; Fragmentation; Fragments; Friability; Fuels; Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering; Inorganic Chemistry; Ion beams; Irradiation; Materials Science; Mechanical polishing; Nuclear fuel elements; Oxidation; Oxide coatings; Surface defects; Zirconium base alloys; Zirconium dioxide; fuel-element cladding; ion alloying; zirconium alloys; ion polishing; ion cleaning; surface modification
• ISSN: 2075-1133; 2075-115X
• DOI: 10.1134/S207511331703011X

The method of modification of the outer surface of the cladding of fuel elements from E110 Zr alloy by means of irradiation with a radial beam of Ar + ions with a broad energy spectrum is proposed. It is shown that the use of ion beam treatment at the final stage of the cladding production can improve the surface quality owing to removal of a large part of surface defects after mechanical polishing. The kinetics of the growth of oxide films on ion-beam-treated (cleaning or polishing by Ar + ions) tubular Zr alloy specimens in a steam environment (350, 375, and 400°C up to 3000 h) was investigated. Monoclinic zirconia layer formation is found to occur on the specimen surface oxidized at 350°C in water and steam environments. Oxidation of the fragments of the alloy fuel-element cladding in steam under pressure contributes to the formation of a thicker and more friable oxide film in comparison with the oxidation in water.