Anisotropic deformation of Zr-2.5Nb pressure tube material at high temperatures

Zr-2.5Nb alloy is used for the pressure tubes in CANDU (R) reactor fuel channels. In reactor, the pressure tube normally operates at 300 degrees C and experiences a primary coolant fluid internal pressure of approximately 10 MPa. Manufacturing and processing procedures generate an anisotropic state in the pressure tube which makes the tube stronger in the hoop (transverse) direction than in the axial (longitudinal) direction. This anisotropy condition is present for temperatures less than 500 degrees C. During postulated accident conditions where the material temperature could reach 1000 degrees C, it might be assumed that the high temperature and subsequent phase change would reduce the inherent anisotropy, and thus affect the deformation behaviour (ballooning) of the pressure tube. From constant-load, rapid-temperature-ramp, uniaxial deformation tests, the deformation rate in the longitudinal direction of the tube behaves differently than the deformation rate in the transverse direction of the tube. This anisotropic mechanical behaviour appears to persist at temperatures up to 1000 degrees C. This paper presents the results of high-temperature deformation tests using longitudinal and transverse specimens taken from as-received Zr-2.5Nb pressure tubes. It is shown that the anisotropic deformation behaviour observed at high temperatures is largely due to the stable crystallographic texture of the alpha-Zr phase constituent in the material that was previously observed by neutron diffraction measurements during heating at temperatures up to 1050 degrees C. The deformation behaviour is also influenced by the phase transformation occurring at high temperatures during heating. The effects of texture and phase transformation on the anisotropic deformation of as-received Zr-2.5Nb pressure tube material are discussed in the context of the tube ballooning behaviour. Because of the high temperatures in postulated accident scenarios, any irradiation damage will be annealed from the pressure tube material and thus the unirradiated material results presented in this paper are also applicable to irradiated pressure tubes, Crown Copyright (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.