Abstract:
After being treated in different ways, N18 zirconium alloy specimens are exposed in 0.01mol · L
-1 LiOH aqueous solution at 350℃, 16.8MPa. The microstructures of these specimens are carried out by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The specimen treated by 800℃/C. R/ 500℃ has best corrosion resistance among all the specimens. TEM examination shows, in addition to Zr(Fe,Cr)
2, there exist Zr-Nb-Fe SPPs, which containing much more Nb element, in the specimen. The existence of Zr-Nb-Fe SPPs is helpful to the reduction of niobium content in αZr solid solution and results in an improvement in the corrosion resistance of N18 zirconium alloy.