| Abstract Scope |
Zirconium alloys are used as fuel claddings in Light Water Reactors (LWR). It is of high interest to have a better control of microstructural evolutions and phase transformations of these alloys, as a function of composition, time and temperature, both in nominal and accidental conditions. In this framework, several computational thermodynamic and kinetic tools have been developed and used at CEA, during these 20 last years. The first thermodynamic and mobility databases for Zr alloys (Calphad formalism) have been created allowing useful calculations for the understanding of phase transformations and microstructural evolutions. Furthermore, a numerical tool, Ekinox-Zr, has been developed to calculate O diffusion during oxidation of Zr alloys. At last, these tools are constantly changing in order to take into account the evolution of Zr alloys, in the case, for instance, of Enhanced Accident Tolerant Fuel claddings: Cr coated Zr alloys. |