VANADIUM ALLOY SCREENING STUDIES AND mFABRICATION OF V- 15w/oTi-7.5w/oCr TUBING FOR NUCLEAR FUEL CLADDING

摘要

Based upon the results of screening tests involving a number of alloys, the vanadium-15 w/o titanium-7.5 w/o chromium alloy has emerged as a promising cladding candidate for sodium-cooled fast reactors. "Scale-up" or pilot-plant production technology is presented for this alloy. Consolidation involved consumable arc-melting of compacted electrodes, followed by arc-remelting. The double-melted ingots were broken down by extrusion, followed by re-extrusion into rod, sheet-bar, and tubes -blanks. Rod and sheet products were easily cold-rolled to finished sizes. Extruded tube-blanks were processed by swaging, tube-reducing, and drawing. Some earlyprocessingproblems were solved, and high yields have been realized in the production of reactor-grade tubing. The results of annealing studies and property tests are presented and discussed.