J. Mater. Sci. Technol. ›› 2023, Vol. 137: 8-13.DOI: 10.1016/j.jmst.2022.07.032

• Research Article • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Atomic scale investigation of FCC → HCP reverse phase transformation in face-centered cubic zirconium

Wenbin Guoa,b,1, Fuzhou Hana,b,1, Geping Lib,*, Yingdong Zhanga,b, Muhammad Alia,b, Jie Rena,b, Qichen Wanga,b, Fusen Yuana,b   

  1. aSchool of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China;
    bShi-changxu Innovation Center for Advanced Materials, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China
  • Received:2022-05-20 Revised:2022-07-04 Accepted:2022-07-22 Published:2023-02-20 Online:2023-02-15
  • Contact: *E-mail address: gpli@imr.ac.cn (G. Li).
  • About author:1These authors contributed equally to this work.

Abstract: Mechanism of FCC → HCP reverse phase transformation in face-centered cubic zirconium (FCC-Zr) along with a concomitant 70.5° rotation of α-Zr matrix were investigated in zircaloy-4 (Zr-4) cladding tube by using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Results showed that the interaction among a secondary phase particle (SPP) and three FCC-Zr grains resulted in the formation of cross stacking faults in SPP and exerted a drag force on minor axis of the adjacent FCC-Zr phase. Moreover, when the shear stress along [$\bar{1}\bar{1}\bar{2}$]FCC-Zr direction was large enough to initiate the emission of 16[$\bar{1}\bar{1}\bar{2}$] Shockley partial dislocation on every other ($11\bar{1}$)FCC-Zr close-packed plane, the stacking sequence would change from ABCABCA to ABABABA viz. (0001) planes of the daughter HCP phase. Thus, FCC → HCP reverse phase transformation in FCC-Zr was presented.

Key words: Zircaloy-4, Reverse phase transformation, Fcc-Zr phase, Interaction