| The role of Mo in Zr-based alloys was studied in terms of the microstructure, texture and corrosion resistance. The base compositions of the experimental alloys were Zr-1Nb and Zr-1Nb-1Sn-0.1Fe to which Mo was added in varying amount up to 0.5%. Buttons of 300 ｇ in weight have been produced by plasma arc remelting (PAR) and processed in sequence by hot forging, hot rolling, beta annealing, cold rolling and recrystallization annealing. It was confirmed that Mo addition resulted in grain refinement: beta grains as well as recrystallized alpha grains. This, in turn reduced the formation frequency and the size of twins and relaxed of the surface normal preferred orientation, f_n. In the corrosion test in water containing 220 ppm LiOH (360℃, 17.9 ㎫), the alloys with up to 0.2% Mo showed a good corrosion resistance whereas that with 0.5% Mo showed a degraded resistance. Apparently, the corrosion resistance was related to the density and morphology of the second phase particles. Alloys containing fine and uniformly distributed β-Nb particles showed good corrosion resistance whereas those containing excessive number or undesirable distribution of particles particularly in uncrystallized region showed degraded corrosion resistance. Overall, the present study suggests that alloying of up to 0.2% Mo should be favorably considered for improving the mechanical properties without impairing the corrosion resistance of Zr-based alloys for nuclear core applications. |
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