The Effect of Ageing Time and Temperature on the Strain Ageing Behaviour of Quenched Zircaloy-4

The strain ageing behaviour of quenched Zircaloy--4 has been studied as a function of ageing time and temperature in the temperature range 523 to 588 K for a short-ageing time of 1 to 52 seconds. At the test conditions, the strain ageing stress increased with ageing time and temperature at a strain rate of 5.5510 sec . Applying stress on the Quenched Zircaloy-4, the strain ageing effect indicated following two stages: an initial stage having an activation energy of 0.39 ev considered to be due to Snoek type ordering of intersitial oxygen atoms in the stress field of a dislocation and a second stage having an activation energy of 0.60 ev, due to mainly long-range diffusion of oxygen atoms.