The influence of heat treatment on the tensile behaviour of uranium in the temperature range 20 °–200 °C

Abstract

Reactor-grade uranium in the form of wire tensile specimens has been tested over the temperature range 20 °–200 °C. Specimens quenched from the β-phase exhibited serrated yielding at temperatures of 100 °C and above and at strain rates of 2.6 × 10 −4 sec −1. Specimens β-annealed and furnace cooled and β-quenched and α-annealed showed no evidence of serrated yielding. The tensile results obtained from the β-quenched and β-quenched/ α-annealed specimens show that β-quenching can result in a ductility minimum at 150 °C.