Skip to main navigation Skip to search Skip to main content

Comprehensive investigation of the role of Nb on the oxidation kinetics of Zr-Nb alloys

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

57 Scopus citations

Abstract

Waterside corrosion of zirconium alloys is currently the life-limiting degradation mechanism of fuel elements in pressurized-water reactor (PWR)systems. Today, PWRs use Zr-Nb fuel cladding designed to limit oxidation and hydrogen pickup. However, oxidation kinetics of Zr-Nb alloys can vary substantially depending on the Nb content and distribution, even in alloys of the same composition but different heat treatments. To elucidate the role of Nb on Zr-Nb oxidation kinetics and improve the fundamental understanding of Zr-Nb corrosion, nano-beam X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (XANES), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and application of the Coupled-Current Charge-Compensation (C4)Model have been performed in concert.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)173-181
Number of pages9
JournalCorrosion Science
Volume155
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 15 2019
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • A. Zirconium
  • B. Modeling studies
  • B. TEM
  • B. XANES
  • C. Oxidation

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Comprehensive investigation of the role of Nb on the oxidation kinetics of Zr-Nb alloys'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this