Fracture Resistance of a Zirconium Alloy with Reoriented Hydrides

Zirconium alloy cladding materials typically contain circumferential hydrides that may be reoriented to align along the radial direction when the cladding tubes are heated above and then cooled below the solvus temperature. The objectives of this study were to investigate the critical stress levels required to cause hydride reorientation (HRT) and to characterize the fracture resistance of Zircaloy-2 after hydride reorientation. HRT heat-treatment was performed on hydrogen-charged Zircaloy-2 specimens at 593 K (320 °C) or 623 K (350 °C) for 1 to 2 hours, followed by cooling to 473 K (200 °C). Fracture testing was conducted on hydride-reoriented three-point bend specimens at 473 K (200 °C) using an in situ loading stage inside a scanning electron microscope. Direct observations indicated that the reoriented hydrides, which ranged from ≈1 to 22 μm in lengths, were more prone to fracture at larger sizes (>10 μm) compared to smaller sizes (<0.5 μm). The reoriented hydrides reduced fracture resistance through a void nucleation, growth, and coalescence process at the crack tip. The resulting crack-resistance curves for Zircaloy-2 with reoriented hydrides decrease from 38 to 21 MPa(m)^1/2 with increasing hydrogen contents from 51 to 1265 wt ppm hydrogen.