Isothermal Oxidation Behavior of Ternary Zr-Nb-Y Alloys at High Temperature

The effect of yttrium content on isothermal oxidation behavior of Zr-2,5%Nb-0,5%Y, Zr-2,5%Nb-1%Y Zr-2,5%Nb-1,5%Y alloy at high temperature has been studied. High temperature oxidation carried out at tube furnace in air at 600,700 and 800 degrees C for 1 hour. Optical microscope is used for microstructure characterization of the alloy. Oxidized and un oxidized specimen was characterized by x-ray diffraction. In this study, kinetic oxidation of Zr-2,5%Nb with different Y content at high temperature has also been studied. Characterization by optical microscope showed that microstructure of Zr-Nb-Y alloys relatively unchanged and showed equiaxed microstructure. X-ray diffraction of the alloys depicted that the oxide scale formed during oxidation of zirconium alloys is monoclinic ZrO2 while unoxidised alloy showed two phase alpha and beta phase. SEM-EDS examination shows that depletion of Zr composition took place under the oxide layer. Kinetic rate of oxidation of zirconium alloy showed that increasing oxidation temperature will increase oxidation rate but increasing yttrium content in the alloys will decrease oxidation rate.