Abstract
Creep properties of annealed and stress-relieved Zr-1.1Nb-0.05Cu cladding tubes were studied and compared. The creep rates of Zr-1.1Nb-0.05Cu cladding tubes stress-relieved at 560°C were found to be appreciably higher than those of Zr-1.1Nb-0.05Cu annealed at 700 °C. The stress exponents for steady state creep were observed to be 5.0~7.0 for both stress-relieved and annealed Zr-1Nb-0.05Cu, supporting that the dislocation-climb-controlled creep operates at the intermediate temperatures (450~500 °C). The creep activation energy increased appreciably in the annealed Zr-1.1Nb-0.05Cu alloy compared to those of stress-relieved alloy. The increase of activation energy in the annealed Zr-1.1Nb-0.05Cu alloy is attributed to the decreasing contribution of faster diffusion path such as grain boundaries and dislocations. The creep rate of Zr-1.1Nb-0.05Cu decreased at intermediate temperatures with the increase of grain size with heat treatment, supporting the creep performance can be improved by the modification of microstructure through annealing.
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