Effect of Nb additions on the microstructure, thermal stability and mechanical behavior of high pressure Zr phases under ambient conditions

This paper analyzes the influence of Nb on the shear-induced α → ω → β transformation taking place when processing Zr by high pressure torsion (HPT) under suitable conditions of pressure and shear. With that purpose, pure Zr and Zr–2.5%Nb were processed by HPT at room temperature and at pressures ranging from 0.25 to 6 GPa using 5 anvil turns. Nb causes a further reduction of the transition pressures, which are already lower when applying shear besides pressure. Thus, the transition pressure to the β phase is reduced at least 100 times in the Zr–Nb alloy. Alloying with Nb decreases the grain size of the transformed phases, significantly enhances their thermal stability and increases their UTS and elongation to failure. Selected post-HPT annealing treatments lead to the development of very tough, multiphase Zr and Zr–Nb with bimodal grain size distributions. The retention of the high pressure phases under ambient conditions is explained by the development of a high internal stress during processing. This stress is measured by synchrotron radiation diffraction at HZB-BESSY II. It is proposed that the presence of Nb reduces the internal stress level required for the retention of the high pressure phases.