Crack initiation and propagation in braided SiC/SiC composite tubes: Effect of braiding angle

Crack initiation and propagation in three braided SiC/SiC composite tubes with different braiding angles are investigated by in situ tensile tests with synchrotron micro-computed tomography. Crack networks are precisely detected after an image subtraction procedure based on Digital Volume Correlation. FFT based simulations are performed on the full-resolution 3D images to assess elastic stress/strain fields. Quantitative measurements of the crack geometries are performed using a novel method based on grey levels. The results show that braiding angle has no obvious effect on the location of crack onsets (initiation always occurs at tow interfaces), whereas it significantly affects the paths of crack propagation. This work provides an explicit demonstration of the crack propagation scenarios with respect to the mesoscopic fibre architectures.     

固溶处理对含Gd不锈钢第二相与硬度的影响

研究了不同固溶处理温度对含Gd不锈钢第二相与硬度的影响。结果表明,含Gd不锈钢在1000～1150℃固溶处理30 min后,沿晶界析出的连续第二相只发生部分熔断,大量第二相弥散分布于基体中,由“灰色”相包裹着“亮白色”相,“灰色”相元素组成及含量相对稳定。在1000～1070℃保温30 min固溶处理后,“亮白色”相的Ni几乎完全溶解,Gd浓缩富集,尺寸缩小,“灰色”相长大缓慢,部分“灰色”相形貌变为短棒状。固溶温度升高至1150℃,“亮白色”相中Ni溶解的同时Gd发生扩散及微量溶解,大部分“亮白色”相消失,“灰色”相发生粗化、球化。固溶处理后合金硬度均低于固溶处理前,随着固溶温度的升高,合金硬度呈上升趋势。     

Corrosion of New Zirconium Claddings in 500 °C/10.3 MPa Steam: Effects of Alloying and Metallography

With the aim of improving corrosion resistance of rod cladding for in-service and accident conditions, six new zirconium alloys (named N1-N6) have been designed. The contents of Sn and Nb were optimized for better behavior at high-temperature pressurized water, and Fe, Cr, V, Cu or Mo elements were added to the alloys to adjust the corrosion behavior. The current work focused on the rapid corrosion behavior in 500 °C/10.3 MPa steam for up to 1960 h, aiming to test the corrosion resistance at high temperature. The structure of matrix and properties of second-phase particles (SPPs) were characterized to find the main differences among these alloys. All the six alloys exhibited better corrosion resistance than N36, and N1 was shown to have the best performance. A careful analysis of the corrosion kinetics curves revealed that Cr was beneficial for severe condition. Elements Fe, Cr, V, Cu or Mo aggregated into SPPs with different concentrations and structures. This was demonstrated to be the main reason for different corrosion resistance. Due to good processing control, all alloys had a uniform structure and a uniform distribution of SPPs. As for N4, N6 and N36, the existing of large-size SPPs (450 nm) might be a contributing factor of the relatively poor corrosion resistance.     

电感耦合等离子体质谱法测定核级海绵锆中痕量硼

硼的存在会严重影响核级海绵锆的中子平衡和反应堆的正常运转,因此,需要准确测定核级海绵锆中痕量硼。在采用电感耦合等离子体质谱法(ICP-MS)测定核级海绵锆中痕量硼时,锆基体干扰比较严重,必须对其进行校正或消除。实验用硝酸和氢氟酸溶解样品,以¹¹B为测定同位素,采用标准加入法克服基体干扰,建立了ICP-MS测定核级海绵锆中痕量硼的方法。结果表明,在优化的实验条件下,硼质量浓度在0.50~10.00 μg/L范围内与其对应的信号强度呈线性关系,相关系数为0.999 5,方法检出限为0.038 μg/g,定量限为0.125 μg/g。按照实验方法测定6个核级海绵锆样品中硼,结果的相对标准偏差(RSD)为2.3%,加标回收率为102%;采用分光光度法进行方法对照试验,两种方法测定结果基本一致。     

Meso-scale analysis of the creep behavior of hydrogenated Zircaloy-4

During dry storage, creep is the most likely degradation mechanism for spent Zircaloy fuel cladding. The fuel cladding integrity during dry storage depends on the amount of oxidation, irradiation hardening and hydrogen-uptake during in-reactor operation. In this paper, the effect of hydrogen on the creep behavior of Zircaloy-4 cladding material was investigated at different temperatures. Depending on temperature, hydrogen can be found in the sample in solid solution and/or hydride. To capture this phenomenon, a numerical mesoscale model of the hydrogenated material has been built using the Finite Element (FE) Method. The numerical setup explicitly describes the hydrides as an inclusion in a hydrogenated Zircaloy-4 matrix. The matrix creep behavior follows a combined Norton-Bailey and Norton creep rules whereas the hydrides are considered to be elastic material. The creep law was defined in FE Code ABAQUS using the user subroutine CREEP. The comparison of predicted creep behavior obtained from numerical modeling showed good agreement with the results reported in literature. The predicted creep behavior shows a significant effect of hydrides morphology. Particularly, our model is able to seize the competition between the creep strain rate enhancement induced by hydrogen in solid solution and its reduction due to precipitated hydrogen.     

Increase the current density and reduce the defects of ZnO by modification of the band gap edges with Cu ions implantation for efficient,flexible dye-sensitized solar cells (FDSSCs)

Flexible dye-sensitized solar cells (FDSSCs) have good potential in future photovoltaic technology. The spin coating method deposited the ZnO films on indium-tin-oxide-coated polyethylene terephthalate (ITO-PET) flexible plastic substrates. These films are implanted with Cu-ions with 1 × 10¹³ ions/cm², 1 × 10¹⁴ ions/cm², and 1 × 10¹⁵ ions/cm². All the films have a hexagonal structure. The film irradiated with 1 × 10¹⁴ ions/cm² showed high crystallinity and crystallite size. Important optical properties like bandgap energy (E_g), band edges, refractive index, extinction coefficient, and dielectric constants are measured by UV–Vis spectroscopy. Bandgap energy decreases, and the refractive index increases at the fluence of Cu ions. The maximum decrease in E_g is observed at the 1 × 10¹⁴ ions/cm² dose. Photoluminescence spectra suggest that defects-related emission peaks are decreased at 1 × 10¹⁴ ions/cm² Cu ions fluency. J-V measurements have significantly improved photovoltaic performance compared to pristine ZnO-based solar cells. The highest efficiency (2.30%) is observed at a 1 × 10¹⁴ ions/cm² dose. The efficiency increase is related to improving the charge transfer ratio and shifting the fermi level toward the conduction band.     

UO2-(Zr0.8Ca0.2)O1.8面心立方固溶体微球制备工艺研究

为研制出耐辐照的新型单相陶瓷燃料,采用溶胶-凝胶法,通过复合溶胶配制、分散胶凝、洗涤、干燥煅烧与烧结过程,开展了UO2-(Zr0.8Ca0.2)O1.8燃料微球制备工艺研究,制备出铀摩尔分数含量分别为30mol%、50mol%、70mol%的UO2-(Zr0.8Ca0.2)O1.8燃料微球样品。在对工艺过程进行分析的基础上,通过实验确定了工艺参数。采用X射线衍射（XRD）对3种燃料微球样品进行分析,分析结果表明:铀摩尔分数含量分别为30mol%、50mol%、70mol%的UO2-(Zr0.8Ca0.2)O1.8燃料微球样品均为面心立方（FCC）固溶体结构。      

Formation of deformation bands and precipitation of Ni3Al(γ′) phase in NiAl(β)-based single crystals by thermomechanical processing

Microstructure and crystal orientation distribution of two-phase NiAl(β)/Ni₃Al(γ′) alloys obtained by thermomechanical processing were investigated. Cylindrical Ni-36 and 38 at.%Al alloy single crystals with various initial loading axes were hot-compressed at a high strain rate of 1.0 s⁻¹ and subsequently annealed in the (β/γ′) two-phase region. After the hot deformation, relatively uniform subgrain structures were formed in initial 〈111〉_β-oriented crystals, while a number of deformation bands perpendicular to the compressive axis developed in 〈100〉_β-, 〈110〉_β- and 〈123〉_β-oriented crystals. Two types of deformation bands with different crystal orientations were alternately arranged against the compressive axis. After annealing in the (β/γ′) two-phase region, a film-shaped γ′ phase with peculiar variants of the Kurdjumov–Sachs orientation relationship preferentially precipitated along the boundary between the deformation bands, resulting in the formation of a (β/γ′) two-phase lamellar structure. Formation process of the deformation bands in β phase and the crystallography of γ′ precipitates along deformation bands were discussed.     

Micromechanical properties and microstructural evolution of Amosic-3 SiC/SiC composites irradiated by silicon ions

In this work, Amosic-3 SiC/SiC composites were irradiated to 10 dpa and 115 dpa with 300 keV Si ions at 300 °C. To evaluate its irradiation behaviour and investigate the underlying mechanism, nanoindentation, AFM, Raman and electron microscopy were utilized. Nanoindentation showed that although micromechanical properties declined after irradiation, hardness and Young’s modulus were maintained better under 115 dpa. AFM manifested differential swelling among PyC interface, fiber and matrix and SEM showed irradiation-induced partial interface debonding, which are both more obvious under 115 dpa. TEM revealed the generation and proliferation of amorphous regions, which is according with the decline and broadening of peaks in Raman spectra. The material was almost completely amorphous after irradiated to 10 dpa while recrystallization occurred under 115 dpa. All results mentioned above contribute to the decline of hardness and Young’s modulus and may explain why the micromechanical degradation was more significant under 10 dpa.     

HT9钢的高温蠕变性能研究

??The tensile creep of HT9 steel was measured at 700 and 800?? with different stress levels. Stress exponent was fitted by power law relation. Rupture time vs. minimum creep rate of HT9 steel was fitted by M- G relationship and modified M- G relationship. The fracture morphology after creeping and the creep mechanism and damage mechanism were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and X- ray diffraction. The results showed that the minimum creep rate and creep rupture time of HT9 steel obeyed a linear relationship with the stress in double logarithmic coordinates, which could be described by M- G and modified M- G relationship. The stress exponent increased with the temperature. The dislocations bypassed the second phase particles during the creep process according to the Orowan mechanism. The fracture had a distinct dimple structure, and some of the second phase particles coarsened. The oxidation of HT9 steel was obvious during the creep at 800??. The main precipitates were M23C6 during the creep, which showed different forms, with significant differences in the size of the precipitated phases. The damage mechanism of HT9 steel included external cross- sectional area loss, material microstructure degradation, environmental damage, etc. There may also be internal sectional area loss.