Iodine stress corrosion cracking of zircaloy: Laboratory data, a phenomenological model, and predictions of in-reactor behavior

Abstract

Data from laboratory tests performed on unirradiated and irradiated Zircaloy have been used as the basis for developing a phenomenological model of iodine-induced stress corrosion crack initiation and growth. The model is capable of predicting the response of cladding subjected to complex loading conditions. Major features of the data incorporated into the model include the existence of a threshold stress, the effect of iodine concentration, temperature effects, the role of chemical inhomogeneities and mechanical flaws, crack initiation in smooth specimens, crack propagation rates as a function of stress intensity in flawed specimens, and the detrimental effect of irradiation. The major physical processes addressed by the model include intergranular stress corrosion cracking (SCC), transgranular SCC, ductile rupture, iodine penetration by surface diffusion along existing or incipient cracks, and stress and strain intensification and triaxiality caused by cracks or flaws. A probabilistic description of the size distribution of the flaws found in as-fabricated cladding is used as the basis for quantitatively extrapolating the laboratory test results to predict in-reactor cladding behavior. The in-reactor SCC resistance of a large fuel assembly is predicted to be substantially lower and more variable than that of small laboratory specimens.