On the formation mechanism of UZr2 phase

Intermetallic delta phase (UZr2) in U–Zr alloy system is known to have hexagonal crystal structure. However, the formation mechanism of delta phase from the parent bcc gamma phase was not investigated before. With an extensive XRD analysis along with the microhardness data the present investigation reveals that gamma to delta transition takes place by the mechanism of omega transformation. Formation of both athermal and isothermal delta phase is also established for UZr2 alloy composition.