Abstract
Delayed hydride cracking (DHC) is a potential failure mechanism of Zr-2.5Nb alloy pressure tubes, employed in heavy-water reactors. This study focused on understanding the DHC behavior of the Zr-2.5Nb pressure tubes within the temperature range 393–523 K. Our findings demonstrate that within this temperature range, the delayed hydride cracking rate (DHCR) and temperature follow the Arrhenius relationship, with the activation energy of crack propagation is found to be 43.16 kJ/mol. The changes in the fracture morphologies at different temperatures are analyzed. Variations in the fracture hydride lengths with temperature and the stress intensity factor K are obtained. Furthermore, it is found that the influencing mechanism of temperature on DHC behavior changes as the temperature increases.
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