Effects of Hot Rolling on Hydrogen Absorption Behavior of NZ2 Zirconium Alloy in 400 oC Super-heated Steam

Abstract:

Effects of different hot rolling temperatures on the second phase particles of zirconium alloy were investigated under the same working rate to determine the optimum processing technique. NZ2 plates of 1.4 mm thickness were prepared at different hot rolling temperatures of 800, 700, 650 and 610 oC according to the processing parameters of commercial-scale ingot sheets and then were corroded in super-heated steam at 400 oC, 10.3 MPa. Their hydrogen content was measured at various time. The distribution and variety of the second phase of the alloys were observed by OM, SEM and TEM. Results show that uniform, fine and diffusive second phase can be obtained by selecting proper hot rolling temperature and therefore zirconium alloy can be prepared with high corrosion resistance and low hydrogen absorbability.