Microstructure and mechanical property evolution of friction stir welded(B4C+Al2O3)/Al composites designed for neutron absorbing materials

(B4C+Al2O3)/Al composite designed for the dry storage of spent nuclear fuels was fabricated and then subjected to friction stir welding, at a welding speed of 100 mm/min and rotation rates of 400–800 r/min. Sound joints were obtained under all welding parameters;however, significant softening occurred in the nugget zone(NZ) for all the joints. Therefore, all the joints exhibited significantly decreased strength at both room temperature and high temperature compared with the base metal, with the joints fracturing in the NZs. Rotation rate exhibited no obvious effect on the tensile strength of the joints, but led to increased elongation as the result of the broadened NZs. The detailed microstructural examinations indicated that the welding thermomechanical effect broke up the near 3D amorphous Al2O3 netlike structure distributed at the Al grain boundaries, caused the coarsening of Al grains, and the agglomeration and crystallization of amorphous Al2O3, thereby resulting in the softening of the NZs and the reduction in the joint strength. Consequently, inhibiting the breakup and crystallization of 3D amorphous Al2O3 netlike structure is the key factor to improve the joint strength of the(B4C+Al2O3)/Al composite.

Effect of Al_(2)O_(3)on the Mechanical Properties of(B_(4)C+Al_(2)O_(3))/Al Neutron Absorbing Materials

B_(4)C/Al composites are widely utilized as neutron absorbing materials for the storage and transportation of spent nuclear fuel.In order to improve the high-temperature mechanical properties of B_(4)C/Al composites,in-situ nano-Al_(2)O_(3)was introduced utilizing oxide on Al powder surface.In this study,the Al_(2)O_(3)content was adjusted by utilizing spheroid Al powder with varying diameters,thereby investigating the impact of Al_(2)O_(3)content on the tensile properties of(B_(4)C+Al_(2)O_(3))/Al composites.It was found that the pinning effect of Al_(2)O_(3)on the grain boundaries could hinder the recovery of dislocations and lead to dislocation accumulation at high temperature.As the result,with the increase in Al_(2)O_(3)content and the decrease in grain size,the high-temperature strength of the composites increased significantly.The finest Al powder used in this investigation had a diameter of 1.4μm,whereas the resultant composite exhibited a maximum strength of 251 MPa at room temperature and 133 MPa at 350℃,surpassing that of traditional B_(4)C/Al composites.

Superb Strengthening Effect of Net-Like Distributed Amorphous Al_(2)O_(3)on Creep Resistance of(B_(4)C+Al_(2)O_(3))/Al Neutron-Absorbing Materials

B4C reinforced Al composites are widely used as neutron absorbing materials(NAMs)due to excellent neutron absorbing efficiency,however,such NAMs exhibit poor high-temperature properties.To meet the requirement for structure-function integration,NAMs with enhanced high-temperature mechanical properties are desired.In this work,a novel(B4 C+Al_(2)O_(3))/Al NAM with netlike distribution of Al_(2)O_(3)was fabricated by powder metallurgy method and subjected to high-temperature tensile creep test.It was shown that the creep resistance was enhanced by several orders of magnitude via the addition of only2.1 vol.%netlike-distributed Al_(2)O_(3).(B_(4)C+Al_(2)O_(3))/Al exhibited high apparent stress exponents ranging from 16 to 25 and high apparent activation energy of 364 kJ/mol.The creep behaviour could be rationalized using the substructure-invariant model and its rupture behaviour could be described by the Dobes-Milicka equation.