Abstract
Zirconium alloys, for example as used in CANDU nuclear reactor pressure tubes, are susceptible to a phenomenon known as Delayed Hydride Cracking (DHC). Material is susceptible to DHC when there is diffusion of hydrogen atoms to a stress concentration (flaw), precipitation of hydride platelets on appropriately oriented crystallographic planes in the zirconium alloy matrix material, and development of a hydrided region at the flaw root. The hydrided region can fracture to the extent that a crack forms, and this is then able to grow by the DHC crack growth mechanism. The paper highlights some of the key features in the authors’ development of a blunt flaw evaluation procedure that takes into account the effect of flaw geometry parameters. It is based on representing the stress relaxation due to hydride formation by an infinitesimally thin process zone, a somewhat similar approach having been used successfully in other engineering and material science applications particularly with regard to sharp cracks.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Dugdale, D.S.: Yielding of Steel Sheets Containing Slits, J. Mechanics and Physics of Solids 8 (1960), 100–104.
Bilby, B. A., Cottrell, A. H., and Swinden, K. H.: The Spread of Plastic Yield From a Notch, Proceedings, Royal Society of London A-272 (1963), 304–314.
Dutton, R., Nuttall, K., Puls, M. P., and Simpson, L. A., Mechanisms of Hydrogen Induced Delayed Cracking in Hydride Forming Materials, Metallurgical Transactions,Vol. 8A (1977), 1553–1562.
Cheadle, B. A., Coleman, C. E., and Ambler, J. F. R., Prevention of Delayed Hydride Cracking in Zirconium Alloys, in Zirconium in the Nuclear Industry: Seventh International Symposium, ASTM STP 939 (1987), 224–240.
Scarth, D. A., Mok, D. H. B., and Newman, G. W., Assessment of Bearing Pad Fretting. Flaws in CANDU Zr-Nb Pressure Tubes, Proceedings of the 1996 ASME Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference, Montreal, Canda, PVP-Vol. 335 (1996), 65–74.
Sagat, S., Lee, W. K., and Bowden, J. W., Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., Chalk River Laboratories, and Kinectrics, Ontario, Canada, unpublished work.
Fracture of Brittle, Disordered Materials: Concrete, Rock and Ceramics, Proceedings of the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (IUTAM) Symposium, Edited by G. Baker and B. L. Karihaloo, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, Published by E und FN Spon (Chapman und Hall), London, UK (1993).
Weatherly, G. C., The Precipitation of y-Hydride Plates in Zirconium, Acta Metallurgica 29 (1981) 501–512.
Metzger, D. R., and Sauvé, R. G., A Self-Induced Stress Model for Simulating Hydride Formation at Flaws, Proceedings of the 1996 ASME Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference, Montreal, Canada, PVP–Vol. 326 (1996) 137–143.
Eadie, R. L., Metzger, D. R., and Léger, M., The Thermal Rachetting of Hydrogen in Zirconium-Niobium–An Illustration Using Finite Element Modelling, Scripta Metallurgica et Materialia, 29 (1993), 335–340.
Scarth, D. A., and Smith, E., Developments in Flaw Evaluation for CANDU Reactor Zr-Nb Pressure Tubes, Proceedings of the 1999 ASME Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference, Boston, USA, PVP–Vol. 391 (1999), 35–45.
Vitek, V., Yielding from a Crack with Finite Root Radius Loaded in Tension, J. Mechanics and Physics of Solids 24 (1975) 67–76.
Smith, E., Fracture Initiation at a Sharp Notch, Proceedings, Royal Society of London A-299 (1967), 455–463.
Rodgers, D. K., Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., Chalk River laboratories, unpublished work.
Technical Requirements for In-service Evaluation of Zirconium Alloy Pressure Tues in CANDU Reactors, Draft 6 of the Proposed CAN/CSA - N285.8 - M2000, Prepared by the CSA Subcommittee on N285.8, Canadian Standards Association, September 2000.
Scarth, D. A., and Smith, E., The Use of Failure Assessment Diagrams to Describe DHC Initiation at a Blunt Flaw, Proceedings of the 2000 ASME Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference, Seattle, USA, PVP–vol. 412 (2000), 63–73.
Milne, I., Ainsworth, R. A., Dowling, A. R., and Stewart, A. T., Assessment of the Integrity of Structures Containing Defects, Int. J. Pressure Vessels and Piping 32 (1988) 3–104.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2002 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this paper
Cite this paper
Scarth, D.A., Smith, E. (2002). Modelling Delayed Hydride Cracking in Zirconium Alloys. In: Karihaloo, B.L. (eds) IUTAM Symposium on Analytical and Computational Fracture Mechanics of Non-Homogeneous Materials. Solid Mechanics and Its Applications, vol 97. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0081-8_19
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0081-8_19
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-5977-2
Online ISBN: 978-94-017-0081-8
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive