In nuclear power plants, Zr-based cladding is corroded by the primary coolant. Concomitantly, it undergoes hydrogen pick-up which induces modifications of its mechanical properties, especially creep and recrystallization rates. Below 600K, the deformation in hcp Zr is partially controlled by screw dislocations, which due to their intricate core structure have reduced intrinsic mobility. Here, we address the possible hydrogen induced modifications of the core structure of screw dislocations. We used first-principle calculations based on the density functional theory to evaluate the interaction between hydrogen and screw dislocation cores and also to evaluate the hydrogen induced modifications of the prismatic and basal gamma surfaces. We show that the presence of hydrogen results in significant reductions of the stacking fault energies.
展开▼
