Fractographic Aspects of Stress Corrosion Failure of Zircaloy ۲ in CH۳OH HCL Solutions

Fracture surface of Zircaloy-۲ specimens tested under constant crosshead speed in CH۳OH/۰.۴ Vol. %HCI solution with and without selenium (۲۵ ppm) addition was studied. Using a combined process of deformation and annealing, coarse grained material was also obtained and examined. Two modes of stress corrosion crack propagation were observed: an intergranular zone caused by stress assisted anodic dissolution, and a transgranular cleavage zone, due to hydrogen absorption.