About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2026 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Additive Manufacturing Materials, Processes and Applications for Energy Industry
|
| Presentation Title |
Microstructural Evolution and Mechanical Behavior of Differently Sintered Zircaloy-4 Powder Compacts |
| Author(s) |
Lucas Raimondi, Pierangeli Rodríguez De Vecchis, Zachary Harris, Markus Chmielus, Jon Ruffley |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Lucas Raimondi |
| Abstract Scope |
There is increasing interest in leveraging additive manufacturing (AM) as a pathway for fabricating Zircaloy components with complex shapes. However, challenges with powder reactivity complicate the use of laser-based AM modalities, which has motivated exploration of non-laser-based AM approaches. The objective of this study is to develop fundamental understanding of the sintering behavior of compacted Zircaloy-4 powder to inform process development for binder jet printing. Zircaloy-4 powder is prepared from wrought material via ball milling and then characterized via laser diffraction and microscopy methods to determine powder morphology distributions. Powder compacts are then prepared using mechanical compaction, followed by a systematic sintering study varying atmosphere, temperature, and time. Samples of each sintering condition are then characterized to quantify microstructural characteristics and mechanical properties, including grain morphology, porosity, secondary phases, and hardness. Finally, these results are compared to analogous measurements performed on the wrought Zircaloy material. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |