Correlation of heat treatment and corrosion behavior of Zr–Nb–Sn–Fe–Cu alloys

The corrosion resistance of Zr–1Nb–1Sn–0.3Fe–0.1Cu and Zr–0.2Nb–1.3Sn–0.4Fe–0.2Cu alloys in relation to heat treatment was evaluated. In Zr–1Nb–1Sn–0.3Fe–0.1Cu alloy, the final heat treatment at 480°C significantly showed an improvement in the corrosion resistance, possibly due to the formation of Nb-containing precipitates. But the corrosion behavior was not significantly influenced by aging at 580°C. In Zr–0.2Nb–1.3Sn–0.4Fe–0.2Cu alloy, the effect of aging on the corrosion resistance was shown not to depend on the final heat treatment temperature. Aging generally decreased the corrosion resistance, possibly owing to the increase of the precipitate size. The composition of the precipitates was observed to remain almost unchanged during aging.