Hydride reorientation in Zircaloy-4 examined by in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction

The phenomenon of stress-reorientation has been investigated using in situ X-ray diffraction during the thermomechanical cycling of hydrided Zircaloy-4 tensile specimens. Results have shown that loading along a sample’s transverse direction (TD) leads to a greater degree of hydride reorientation when compared to rolling direction (RD)-aligned samples. The elastic lattice micro-strains associated with radially oriented hydrides have been revealed to be greater than those oriented circumferentially, a consequence of strain accommodation. Evidence of hydride redistribution after cycling, to α-Zr grains oriented in a more favourable orientation when under an applied stress, has also been observed and its behaviour has been found to be highly dependent on the loading axis. Finally, thermomechanical loading across multiple cycles has been shown to reduce the difference in terminal solid solubility of hydrogen during dissolution (TSSD,H) and precipitation (TSSP,H)