A mechanism for the hydrogen uptake process in zirconium alloys

Abstract

Hydrogen uptake data for thin Zircaloy-2 specimens in steam at 300–400°C have been analysed to show that there is a decrease in the rate of uptake with respect to the rate of oxidation when the terminal solid solubility (TSS) of hydrogen in the metal is exceeded. In order for TSS to be reached during pre-transition oxidation a very thin 0.125 mm Zircaloy sheet was used. The specimens had been pickled initially removing all Zr 2(Fe/Ni) particles from the initial surfaces, yet the initial hydrogen uptake rates were still much higher than for Zircaloy-4 or a binary Zr/Fe alloy that did not contain phases that dissolve readily during pickling. Cathodic polarisation at room temperature in CuSO 4 solution showed that small cracks or pores formed the cathodic sites in pre-transition oxide films. Some were at pits resulting from the initial dissolution of the Zr 2(Fe/Ni) phase; others were not; none were at the remaining intermetallics in the original surface. These small cracks are thought to provide the ingress routes for hydrogen. A microscopic steam starvation process at the bottoms of these small cracks or pores, leading to the accumulation of hydrogen adjacent to the oxide/metal interface, and causing breakdown of the passive oxide forming at the bottom of the flaw, is thought to provide the mechanism for the hydrogen uptake process during both pre-transition and post-transition oxidation.