Abstract
The effects of exposure to liquid uranium on the tensile behavior of single crystal refractory metals Ta, W and polycrystalline Nb-xTa binary alloys are evaluated with tensile testing at 1473 K. The results show that single crystal Ta and W are not embrittled by liquid U, while it is known that polycrystalline Ta and W are readily embrittled by liquid U. For the Nb-xTa binary alloys, the embrittlement occurs in alloys which have more than 60 wt% Ta. Cross sectional metallographic and SEM examination of the tested samples indicate that the embrittlement in these Nb-xTa alloys is caused by the wetting of liquid U along grain boundaries. Based on the present single crystal test results and the previously observed effect of strain-rate on the embrittlement in polycrystalline Ta, it is suggested that the embrittlement in polycrystalline Ta and W is not a classical LME which is attributed to adsoption-induced reduction of interatomic bond strength.
Published Version
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