High temperature creep properties of zirconium and Zircaloy-4 in vacuum and oxygen environments

A special set-up has been used to follow the evolution of mechanical parameters under various applied stresses in in situ conditions (controlled temperature and atmosphere). This experimental set-up is used to study the creep behavior of zirconium and Zircaloy-4 in the temperature range 723–823 K. The influence of applied stresses, atmosphere and alloy grade on the deformation and oxidation processes are specifically analyzed. The results underline the presence of two distinct deformation domains for both alloy grades, depending on the applied stress value and the temperature. The results show that the presence of an oxide scale only leads to slight modifications of the creep behavior.