Growth kinetics and microstructural evolution during hot isostatic pressing of U-10 wt.% Mo monolithic fuel plate in AA6061 cladding with Zr diffusion barrier

Abstract Phase constituents and microstructure changes in RERTR fuel plate assemblies as functions of temperature and duration of hot-isostatic pressing (HIP) during fabrication were examined. The HIP process was carried out as functions of temperature (520, 540, 560 and 580 °C for 90 min) and time (45–345 min at 560 °C) to bond 6061 Al-alloy to the Zr diffusion barrier that had been co-rolled with U-10 wt.% Mo (U10Mo) fuel monolith prior to the HIP process. Scanning and transmission electron microscopies were employed to examine the phase constituents, microstructure and layer thickness of interaction products from interdiffusion. At the interface between the U10Mo and Zr, following the co-rolling, the UZr 2 phase was observed to develop adjacent to Zr, and the α-U phase was found between the UZr 2 and U10Mo, while the Mo 2 Zr was found as precipitates mostly within the α-U phase. The phase constituents and thickness of the interaction layer at the U10Mo-Zr interface remained unchanged regardless of HIP processing variation. Observable growth due to HIP was only observed for the (Al,Si) 3 Zr phase found at the Zr/AA6061 interface, however, with a large activation energy of 457 ± 28 kJ/mole. Thus, HIP can be carried to improve the adhesion quality of fuel plate without concern for the excessive growth of the interaction layer, particularly at the U10Mo-Zr interface with the α-U, Mo 2 Zr, and UZr 2 phases.