The dissolution of oxide on α-Zr(1%Nb) and β-Zr(20%Nb) alloys

The oxide dissolution rates on β-Zr(20%Nb) and α-Zr(1%Nb) alloys have been measured by AES at various temperatures. The results indicated that oxide films on the β-Zr(20%Nb) alloy dissolve much more rapidly into the bulk alloy than is the case for the α-Zr(1%Nb) alloy. The oxygen diffusion coefficients in both the β-Zr(20%Nb) and α-Zr(1%Nb) alloys were deduced from the oxide dissolution kinetics, which are 0.172 exp(−187.47 kJ/RT) and 0.69 exp(−149.45 kJ/RT) for the α-Zr(1%Nb) alloy and β-Zr(20%Nb) alloy, respectively.