A study of the oxidation of zircaloy in reactor
environments has been undertaken with the goal of
characterizing of the Thermal Gradient Test Facility
(TGTF) at Teledyne Wah Chang, Albany. A set of
oxidation models is presented from the literature, as
well as an extensive database of published oxidation
test...
A model has been developed to predict the long-term
oxidation rate of Zircaloy-4 for ex-reactor (autoclave) and
in-reactor (PWR) environments and operating conditions. A
computer program has been written to solve the oxygen
diffusion equation by employing a fully implicit finite
difference method for a one dimensional cylindrical
geometry. The...
The fracture mechanics of Charpy V-notch specimens of
Zircaloy-4 and phosphorus contaminated Zircaloy-4 were
investigated. Three-point bend and impact tests with Charpy
V-notch samples provided an efficient and economical method
of fracture evaluation. Fracture failure was monitored by
the force-displacement curve. Failure was initially
analyzed using fracture toughness values as...