Zirconium Alloy - Production and Properties

Production and Properties

Commercial non-nuclear grade zirconium typically contains 1–5% of hafnium, whose neutron absorption cross-section is 600x that of zirconium. Hafnium must therefore be almost entirely removed (reduced to < 0.02% of the alloy) for reactor applications.

Zirconium and zinc are found in magnesium alloys used in plane, car and spacecraft construction. Zirconium is used to lower the metal grain size, increasing the metal’s hardness.

Nuclear-grade zirconium alloys contain more than 95% Zr, and therefore most of their properties are similar to those of pure zirconium. The absorption cross section for thermal neutrons is 0.18 barn for zirconium, which is much lower than that for such common metals as iron (2.4 barn) and nickel (4.5 barn). The composition and the main applications of common reactor-grade alloys are summarized below. These alloys contain less than 0.3% of iron and chromium and 0.1–0.14% oxygen.

Alloy Sn, % Nb, % Vendor
(country)
Component Reactor type
Zircaloy 2 1.2–1.7 All vendors Cladding, structural components BWR, CANDU
Zircaloy 4 1.2–1.7 All vendors Cladding, structural components BWR, PWR, CANDU
ZIRLO 0.7–1 1 Westinghouse Cladding PWR
Zr Sponge Japan and Russia Cladding BWR
ZrSn 0.25 Westinghouse Cladding BWR
Zr2.5Nb 2.4–2.8 Pressure tube CANDU
E100 0.9–1.1 Russia Cladding RBMK
E125 2.5 Russia Pressure tube RBMK
E635 0.8–1.3 0.8–1 Russia Structural components RBMK
M5 0.8–1.2 Areva Cladding, structural components PWR

*ZIRLO stands for zirconium low oxidation.

Read more about this topic:  Zirconium Alloy

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