X-Ray Computer Tomography Study of Degradation of the Zircaloy-2 Tubes Oxidized at High Temperatures

The investigations of high-temperature oxidation of zirconium alloys, applied for fuel pellets in nuclear power plants, are usually limited to oxidation kinetics, phase transformations and microstructural characterization. The purpose of this research was to characterize the degradation phenomena occurring within oxide layer and at the interface oxide/metal, on internal and external Zircaloy-2 tube surfaces, below and over crystalline transformation temperature of zirconium oxides. The commercial tubes were oxidized at 1273 K and 1373 K in calm air for 30 min and then examined with a technique novel for such purpose, namely a high-resolution X-ray computer tomography. The light microscopy was used to examine the cross-surfaces. The obtained results show that the form and intensity of oxide damage is significant and it is in a complicated way related to oxidation temperature and on whether external or internal tube surface is studied. The found oxide layer damage forms include surface cracks, the detachment of oxide layers, the appearance of voids, and nodular corrosion. The oxidation effects and damage appearance are discussed taking into account the processes such as formation of oxides, their phase transformation, stress-enhanced formation and propagation of cracks, diffusion of vacancies, formation of nitrides, diffusion of hydrogen into interface oxide-metal, incubation of cracks on second phase precipitates are taken into account to explain the observed phenomena.