Aging response and characterization of precipitates in Zr alloy Excel pressure tube material

Precipitation hardening in the Zr-based alloy Excel (Zr-3.5 wt.% Sn-0.8 wt.% Mo-0.8 wt.% Nb) was studied using hardness testing and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Solution treatment at 890 °C, in the αZr + βZr region, and 980 °C, in the βZr region, followed by water-quenching and aging resulted in an increase of hardness, of up to 47% compared to the annealed material. The optimum condition for aging heat treatment was found to be 450 °C for 1-2 h. The precipitates were observed only in the transformed βZr martensitic phase. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) in TEM showed the precipitate composition to be Zr-30 wt.% Mo-25 wt.% Nb-2 wt.% Fe. The crystal structure of the precipitates was determined to be hexagonal with a = 0.294 nm and c = 0.448 nm, i.e. c/a = 1.526.