The Effect of final heat treatment at fabrication on the terminal solid solubility of hydrogen in Zry-4

Yamauchi, Akihiro*; Amaya, Masaki  

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements on pre-hydrided cold worked, stress relieved and recrystallized Zry-4 cladding were performed in a temperature range between 50 and 600C in order to elucidate the effect of final heat treatment at fabrication of Zircaloy-4 (Zry-4) cladding on the terminal solid solubility during the dissolution of zirconium hydrides at heating up (TSSD). Obtained DSC curves and Metallography indicate that the initial state of hydrides affects the dissolution behavior of hydride. The Arrhenius plots of the TSSD temperatures and hydrogen contents obtained from this study revealed that cold worked samples exhibited the largest TSSD and followed by stress relieved and recrystallized samples. The results of this study indicated that the difference in microstructure due to final heat treatment at fabrication of Zry-4 cladding affects the dissolution behavior of hydrides.