The atomic scale structure and chemistry of the zircaloy-4 metal-oxide interface

Journal article

A great deal of careful experimentation has been carried out over the past 40 years on the critical mechanisms of oxidation in the zirconium alloys used for fuel cladding. However, there is still no consensus on how the nano-scale structure and chemistry of the metal/scale interface control the oxidation kinetics, although this information is vital for the accurate prediction of the performance of existing alloys and the design of new materials for higher burn-up regimes. Significant improvements in analytical instrumentation over the past few years now allow us to investigate this key interface with unprecedented spatial resolution and chemical sensitivity. This presentation will discuss sample preparation strategies for advanced TEM and 3-D atom probe analysis, and show that we have obtained new data on the nature of the sub-oxide adjacent to the interface.

Authors: Hudson, D; Ni, N; Lozano-Perez, S; Saxey, D; English, C

• Publication status: Published
• Publisher: American Nuclear Society
• Journal: 14th International Conference on Environmental Degradation of Materials in Nuclear Power Systems Water Reactors 2009 More from this journal
• Volume: 2
• Pages: 1407-1418
• Publication date: 2009-01-01
• Language: English
• Subjects: Materials engineering