Ways of improving the high-temperature work service of vanadium and some alloys used in reactors

We present new evidence for the high-temperature strength of vanadium and low-alloyed (up to 15 at.%) vanadium-based alloys under conditions of prolonged (up to 5000 h) high-temperature (973-1173 K) exposure to vacuum, helium, lithium and sodium melts, modeling reactor heat-transport media (10 Pa). The kinetics of phase transformations in alloys of the systems V-Zr-C, V-Nb-Zr-C, V-Mo-Zr-C, and V-Ti-O in the process of prolonged aging under stress is analyzed. It is established that the process of pre-decay of a solid solution has many stages and is intensified by the action of stresses. The corresponding isothermal diagrams of the decay of VTsU (V-Zr-C) alloy are constructed. We give recommendations as to the choice of alloying elements with the aim of enhancing the high-temperature strength of vanadium and vanadium alloys used for reactors. New alloys developed on the basis of the systems V-Ti-O, V-Nb-Zr, V-Ta-Hf, V-Cr-Sc, and V-Cr-Nd and a new method of strengthening thermochemical treatment of vanadium-titanium alloys with the use of oxygen from air have found application in pilot-engineering developments for high-temperature nuclear power plants.