Kinetic studies of the α–β phase transition in the Zr1%Nb cladding for nuclear reactors

The α–β phase transition of a zirconium alloy doped with 1 mol% of niobium (E110 alloy) is investigated using differential scanning calorimetry. The onset and endpoints of the transition are identified from the measured heat flow signal and from the integration of the observed peak the extent of the α–β phase change is calculated as a function of temperature. The experiment has been performed at different heating rates and a shift of the onset temperature with increasing heating rate was observed. From the dataset the equilibrium transition curve has been extrapolated and compared with other types of zirconium-based cladding materials.