Study on microstructure and wear resistance of Zr-17Nb alloy irradiated by high current pulsed electron beam

In this paper, the microstructure and wear resistance of Zr-17Nb alloy treated by high current pulsed electron beam were studied in detail. A phase change occurs after pulse treatments using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis, showing β (Nb) phase and α (Zr) phase transformed by a part of β (Zr, Nb) phase. Also, narrowing and shifting of β (Zr, Nb) diffraction peaks were found. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and metallographic analysis results reveal that the microstructure of alloy surface before high current pulsed electron beam (HCPEB) treatment is composed of equiaxed crystals. But, after 15 and 30 pulse treatments, crater structures are significantly reduced. Besides, it was also found that the alloy surface has undergone eutectoid transformation after 30 pulse treatments, and the reaction of β (Zr, Nb) → αZr + βNb had occurred. Microhardness test results show that microhardness value presents a downward trend as the number of pulses increases, which is mainly due to the coarsening of the grains and the formation of a softer β (Nb) phase after phase transformation. The wear resistance test results show that the friction coefficient increases first, then decreases and then increases with the increase of pulse number