Stress-reorientation of hydrides and hydride embrittlement of Zr–2.5 wt% Nb pressure tube alloy

Abstract Hydrogen in excess of the terminal solid solubility precipitates out as a brittle hydride phase in zirconium alloys. The hydrides acquire platelet shaped morphology due to their accommodation in the matrix and can cause severe embrittlement, especially when these are oriented normal to the tensile stress axis. The precipitation of hydride platelets normal to the tensile stress when cooled under stress from a solution-annealing temperature is commonly referred to as ‘stress-reorientation’. The stress-reorientation is associated with a threshold stress below which no reorientation is observed. In this work, stress-reorientation of hydrides was investigated for unirradiated, cold worked and stress-relieved Zr–2.5 wt% Nb pressure tube material for a reorientation temperature of 423–723 K. The effect of the reoriented hydrides on the tensile properties of the Zr–2.5 wt% Nb pressure tube alloy was evaluated in the temperature range of 298–573 K.