Irradiation-induced Nb redistribution of ZrNb alloy: An APT study

We have investigated proton irradiation induced Nb redistribution in Zr-xNb alloy (x = 0.4, 0.5, 1.0) by using Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM) and Atom Probe Tomography (APT). Initially without an irradiation effect, the Zr matrix only contains βNb and native Laves phase native prec...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of nuclear materials Vol. 516; pp. 100 - 110
Main Authors Yu, Zefeng, Couet, Adrien, Bachhav, Mukesh
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.04.2019
Elsevier BV
Subjects
Alloys
Corrosion resistance
Corrosion resistant alloys
Irradiation
Laves phase
Niobium
Precipitates
Proton irradiation
Scanning electron microscopy
Scanning transmission electron microscopy
Solid solutions
Transmission electron microscopy
Zirconium
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Summary:We have investigated proton irradiation induced Nb redistribution in Zr-xNb alloy (x = 0.4, 0.5, 1.0) by using Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM) and Atom Probe Tomography (APT). Initially without an irradiation effect, the Zr matrix only contains βNb and native Laves phase native precipitates. However, after 2 MeV proton irradiation at 350 °C, STEM/EDS showed irradiation induced precipitation of Nb-rich needle-like particles (up to ∼100 nm in length) in the Zr matrix. APT also revealed that Fe- and Nb -enriched nano-clusters (less than 20 nm diameter) are present in the Zr matrix for Zr-0.5Nb and Zr-1.0Nb. Irradiation was found to reduce the matrix Nb concentration in the Zr solid solution, This reduction may contribute to the improved corrosion resistance of ZrNb alloys in the reactor environment at high burnup.
ISSN:0022-3115
1873-4820
DOI:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2019.01.015