Influence of Iron in the Nucleation of (c) Component Dislocation Loops in Irradiated Zircaloy-4

摘要

Under irradiation, the acceleration of growth of nuclear reactor components made of Zircaloy is clearly correlated to the presence of (c) component dislocation loops. In the early stages, these loops appear to be essentially located close to the intermetallic precipitates. At higher doses, when (c) component dislocation loops are observed all over the microstructure, analysis of the Zr matrix reveals an homogeneous iron content due to the dissolution of the precipitates. Thus, iron may play a significant role in the nucleation of (c) component dislocation loops.