Hydrogen pick-up in zirconium alloys

Start date 01/01/2010
End date The project is closed: 31/12/2015
Zirconium alloys are used as fuel cladding materials in light water nuclear reactors. During service at high temperature and pressure oxidation in water takes place, and part of the released hydrogen finds its way to the metal, potentially embrittling the material. The project aims at understanding the mechanisms involved in hydrogen transport in primarily Zircaloy-2 (a Zr-Sn-Fe-Cr-Ni-O alloy) used in boiling water reactors. The oxide-metal interface region of both autoclave tested and irradiated material is studied by atom probe tomography (APT), and hydrogen transport and reduction is modeled using ab-initio methods (DFT). The function of transition metal atoms as sites for hydrogen reduction is studied.​​
Publications
​Methods of quantitative matrix analysis of Zircaloy-2
M. Thuvander, H.-O. Andrén
Ultramicroscopy 111 (2011)  711-714 

Origin and effect of lateral cracks in oxide scales formed on zirconium alloys.
P Tejland, H-O Andrén
J. Nuclear Materials, 430 (2012) 64-71

Enrichment of Fe and Ni at metal and oxide grain boundaries in corroded Zircaloy-2
G Sundell, M Thuvander and H-O Andrén 
Corr. Sci. 65 (2012) 10-12

Hydrogen analysis in APT: methods to control adsorption and dissociation of H2
G. Sundell, M. Thuvander, H.-O. Andrén
Ultramicroscopy 132 (2013) 285-289

Towards a comprehensive mechanistic understanding of hydrogen uptake in zirconium alloys by combining atom probe analysis with electronic structure calculations
M. Lindgren, G. Sundell, I. Panas, L. Hallstadius, M. Thuvander, H.-O. Andrén
J. ASTM Int., accepted

Oxidation induced localized creep deformation in Zircaloy-2.
P Tejland, H-O Andrén
Journal of Nuclear Materials, 444 (2014) 30-34​

​Vetenskapsrådet (Swedish Research Council), Sandvik Materials Technology, Vattenfall Nuclear Fuel, Westinghouse Electric Sweden, Electric Production Research Institute (Washington DC)
​Westinghouse, Sandvik Materials Technology, Vattenfall, Studsvik Nuclear, University of Manchester, University of Oxford, Imperial College (London), Penn State University

Published: Wed 19 Feb 2014.