Title: Experimental evaluation of mechanical properties and fracture-fatigue simulation of cryo- and room-temperature-rolled zircaloy-2

Authors: Sunkulp Goel; Kumar Gaurav; R. Jayaganthan; I.V. Singh; D. Srivastava; G.K. Dey; N. Saibaba

Addresses: Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, & Centre of Nanotechnology, IIT Roorkee, Roorkee 247667, India ' Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, IIT Roorkee, Roorkee 247667, India ' Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, & Centre of Nanotechnology, IIT Roorkee, Roorkee 247667, India ' Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, IIT Roorkee, Roorkee 247667, India ' Materials Science Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Center, Mumbai 400085, India ' Materials Science Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Center, Mumbai 400085, India ' Nuclear Fuel Complex Limited, Hyderabad 501301, India

Abstract: In this study, the mechanical properties of mercury-quenched, cryorolled (CR) and room-temperature-rolled (RTR) zircaloy-2 have been examined by performing the tensile and hardness tests. The effect of cryorolling and room temperature rolling on the fracture properties has been evaluated by performing two-dimensional (2D) quasi-static crack growth simulations using finite element approach under plane stress condition. J-integral and internal energy of the mercury-quenched, CR and RTR zircalloy-2 are evaluated and compared with each other. The S-N curves for mercury-quenched, CR and RTR zircaloy-2 are obtained through finite element simulations. After performing the fracture and fatigue simulations, it is found that 85% cryorolled zircaloy-2 possesses better fracture and fatigue behaviour when compared with mercury-quenched and 85% RTR zircaloy-2.

Keywords: RTR; room temperature rolling; zircaloy-2; mechanical testing; FEM; finite element method; crack growth simulation; fracture; fatigue; mechanical properties; cryorolling; tensile testing; hardness tests; plane stress.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMMP.2014.066573

International Journal of Microstructure and Materials Properties, 2014 Vol.9 No.2, pp.120 - 135

Published online: 30 Apr 2015 *

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