TY - JOUR
T1 - Quantifying the effect of hydride microstructure on zirconium alloys embrittlement using image analysis
AU - Simon, Pierre Clément A.
AU - Frank, Cailon
AU - Chen, Long Qing
AU - Daymond, Mark R.
AU - Tonks, Michael R.
AU - Motta, Arthur T.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was performed with the support of the DOE NEUP IRP-17-13708 project “Development of a Mechanistic Hydride Behavior Model for Spent Fuel Cladding Storage and Transportation”. The authors thank Floyd Hilty from the University of Florida for sharing his genetic algorithm and for his assistance in adapting the algorithm to this project. The validation of the algorithms was made possible by the help of Florian Passelaigue, Jonathan Balog, Joshua May, Matthew Durbin, Pierre Bouhaddane, and Soyoung Kang from The Pennsylvania State University, Floyd Hilty and Shuaifang Zhang from the University of Florida, and Igor Cherubin and Fei Long from Queen's University, who volunteered to measure the RHF and the RHCP using the different methods to validate the new definitions and implementations. The authors also thank Ju-Seong Kim from the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute for sharing the high-resolution microstructures published in [50].
Funding Information:
This work was performed with the support of the DOE NEUP IRP-17-13708 project “Development of a Mechanistic Hydride Behavior Model for Spent Fuel Cladding Storage and Transportation”.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2021/4/15
Y1 - 2021/4/15
N2 - Because hydride microstructure can significantly influence Zr alloy nuclear fuel cladding's ductility, a new metric has been developed to quantify hydride microstructure in 2D micrographs and relate it to crack propagation. As cladding failure usually results from a hoop stress, this new metric, called the Radial Hydride Continuous Path (RHCP), is based on quantifying the continuity of brittle hydride particles along the radial direction of the cladding tube. Compared to previous metrics, this approach more closely relates to the propensity of a crack to propagate radially through the cladding tube thickness. The RHCP takes into account hydride length, orientation, and connectivity to choose the optimal path for crack propagation through the cladding thickness. The RHCP can therefore be more closely linked to hydride embrittlement of the Zr alloy material, thus creating a relationship between material structure, properties, and performance. The new definition, along with previously proposed metrics such as the Radial Hydride Fraction (RHF), the Hydride Continuity Coefficient (HCC), and the Radial Hydride Continuity Factor (RHCF), have been implemented and automated in MATLAB. These codes are made available with this publication as supplementary materials. These metrics were verified by comparing their predictions of hydride morphology against expected values in simple cases, and the implementation of the new metric was validated by comparing its predictions with manual measurements of hydride microstructure performed on ImageJ. The RHCP was also validated against experimental measurements of fracture behavior and it was shown to correlate with cladding failure better than previous metrics. The information provided by these metrics will help accurately assess cladding integrity during operation, transportation, and storage.
AB - Because hydride microstructure can significantly influence Zr alloy nuclear fuel cladding's ductility, a new metric has been developed to quantify hydride microstructure in 2D micrographs and relate it to crack propagation. As cladding failure usually results from a hoop stress, this new metric, called the Radial Hydride Continuous Path (RHCP), is based on quantifying the continuity of brittle hydride particles along the radial direction of the cladding tube. Compared to previous metrics, this approach more closely relates to the propensity of a crack to propagate radially through the cladding tube thickness. The RHCP takes into account hydride length, orientation, and connectivity to choose the optimal path for crack propagation through the cladding thickness. The RHCP can therefore be more closely linked to hydride embrittlement of the Zr alloy material, thus creating a relationship between material structure, properties, and performance. The new definition, along with previously proposed metrics such as the Radial Hydride Fraction (RHF), the Hydride Continuity Coefficient (HCC), and the Radial Hydride Continuity Factor (RHCF), have been implemented and automated in MATLAB. These codes are made available with this publication as supplementary materials. These metrics were verified by comparing their predictions of hydride morphology against expected values in simple cases, and the implementation of the new metric was validated by comparing its predictions with manual measurements of hydride microstructure performed on ImageJ. The RHCP was also validated against experimental measurements of fracture behavior and it was shown to correlate with cladding failure better than previous metrics. The information provided by these metrics will help accurately assess cladding integrity during operation, transportation, and storage.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jnucmat.2021.152817
DO - 10.1016/j.jnucmat.2021.152817
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85099883648
SN - 0022-3115
VL - 547
JO - Journal of Nuclear Materials
JF - Journal of Nuclear Materials
M1 - 152817
ER -