48 research outputs found

    Microstructural characterization of creep anisotropy at 673K in the M5® alloy

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    Zirconium alloy tubing is used in pressurized water nuclear reactors in order to prevent fissile material from leaking into the coolant. It can be the first safety wall of nuclear fuel, and is submitted to complex thermomechanical loadings. In consequence, new Nb-modified alloys, such as the M5 alloy, and fine numerical models are being developed to guarantee a better and longer mechanical integrity of these tubes. To identify the physical mechanisms that could be considered in such models, an experimental approach, combining creep tests with electron backscattered diffraction and Transmission electron microscopy investigations, was carried out. Tubular specimens were submitted to multiaxial creep tests at a temperature of 673 K. Seven ratios between the axial and hoop applied stresses were investigated. It enabled a macroscopic evidence of the creep anisotropy. Besides, EBSD analyses on a mesoscopic- sized non deformed area led to the characterization of the variation of the average Schmid factor with the direction of loading. Finally,TEM observations were done on seven crept samples, corresponding to the seven directions of loading tested mechanically. The variations of the different parameters investigated (activated slip systems, dislocation densities, curvatures of the dislocations) can be seen as the effects of the creep anisotropy at a microscopic scale. The correlation between results is then discussed in a multiscale frame

    Grain boundary networks as a fundamental feature to design materials to manage diffusion of hydrogen

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    Dislocation mechanisms in a zirconium alloy in the high-temperature regime: An in situ TEM investigation

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    Dislocation mechanisms responsible for the high-temperature mechanical properties of a Zr alloy have been investigated using in situ straining experiments between 250 °C and 450 °C. At 250 °C and 300 °C, the results show a steady and homogeneous dislocation motion in prismatic planes, with little cross-slip in the pyramidal and/or basal planes. At 350 °C, the kinetics of mobile dislocations becomes very jerky and inhomogeneous, in agreement with a dynamic strain aging mechanism. Above this temperature, the motion is again steady and homogeneous. Extensive cross-slip forms super-jogs which are efficient pinning points against the glide motion. These super-jogs move by glide along the Burgers vector direction, never by climb. The glide velocity between super-jogs is linear as a function of the total driving stress (applied stress minus line-tension stress due to dislocation curvature), in agreement with the solute dragging mechanism. The origin of the stress–strain rate dependence with an exponent larger than unity is then discussed

    Analysis of the presence of bonding defects on the fracture behavior of a damaged plate repaired by composite patch

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    The repair technique has presented its effectiveness in the reduction of the stresses at the level of stresses concentration areas. The search for a patch and suitable adhesive for a good transfer of load has pushed researchers to develop many ideas, which relate the form, the nature, the stacking sequence of the patch and the adhesive type to give a better combination of choice between the patch and the adhesive. Our work fits in this context; the objective is to analyze by the method of finite elements the behavior in the rupture of a damaged plate in the presence of defect of bonding. The analysis of J-Integral and stresses in the tow substrates adhesive and patch shows clearly that their values depends strongly on the position of the default essentially when it’s located close to the free edge of the free edge of the adhesive or the crack

    A Review of Hydride Precipitates in Titanium and Zirconium Alloys: Precipitation, Dissolution and Crystallographic Orientation Relationships

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    This work proposes a review of recent results on the formation and dissolution of hydrides in HCP alloys (Ti and Zr alloys) correlated to the nature of crystallographic hydride phases and their ORs. The crystallographic coherence observed between the surface hydride layer and the substrate is very important for many applications as for biomaterials devices. Five particular orientation relationships (OR) were identified between titanium/zirconium hydride precipitates and the oc-Ti and a-Zr substrates. In addition, the nature of hydrides have a large implication on the ductility, the strain hardening, and the local plastic strain accommodation in the Ti alloys. Our studies using XDR, TEM and SEM-EBSD have been demonstrating that the nature of the hydride phase precipitates depends on the hydrogen content. DSC has been used to obtain the hydride dissolution and precipitation energy values at the bulk scale, whose difference can be associated to misfit dislocations. Local in-situ TEM dissolution observations show the depinning of part of misfit dislocations during dissolution process. Hydride reprecipitation is thus possible only if hydrogen is not driven away during heating by misfit dislocations depinning
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