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The Effect of Oxygen on Properties of Zirconium Metal

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The Effect of Oxygen on Properties of Zirconium Metal University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations Dissertations and Theses March 2020 THE EFFECT OF OXYGEN ON PROPERTIES OF ZIRCONIUM METAL Jie ZHAO University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_2 Part of the Computational Engineering Commons, Mechanics of Materials Commons, Structures and Materials Commons, Thermodynamics Commons, and the Transport Phenomena Commons Recommended Citation ZHAO, Jie, "THE EFFECT OF OXYGEN ON PROPERTIES OF ZIRCONIUM METAL" (2020). Doctoral Dissertations. 1875. https://doi.org/10.7275/15345439 https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_2/1875 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Dissertations and Theses at ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE EFFECT OF OXYGEN ON PROPERTIES OF ZIRCONIUM METAL A Dissertation Presented by JIE ZHAO Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY February,2020 Mechanical and Industrial Engineering © Copyright by Jie ZHAO 2020 All Rights Reserved THE EFFECT OF OXYGEN ON PROPERTIES OF ZIRCONIUM METAL A Dissertation Presented by JIE ZHAO Approved as to style and content by: Robert Hyers, Chair Douglas Matson, Member Wei Fan, Member Wen Chen, Member Sundar Krishnamurty, Department Head Mechanical and Industrial Engineering ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This thesis becomes a reality with the kind support and help of many individuals. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all of them. Foremost, I want to offer this endeavor to our GOD Almighty for the wisdom he bestowed upon me, the strength, peace and health to do the research. I would like to express my gratitude towards my beloved and supportive husband, Pengcheng who is always be my side when I needed him most and helped me a lot in doing this study. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my committee chair professor Hyers, co-advisor professor Lee and dissertation committee member professor Matson for their guidance, consistent support and encouragement. My thanks also go to my best friend Cheng. I am highly appreciate of support from NASA under grants NNX10AR71G and NNX16AB40G. iv ABSTRACT THE EFFECT OF OXYGEN ON PROPERTIES OF ZIRCONIUM METAL FEBRUARY,2020 JIE ZHAO B.S., UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, BEIJING M.S., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Ph.D., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor Robert Hyers The influence of oxygen on the thermophysical properties of zirconium has been investigated using MSL-EML (Material Science Laboratory Electromagnetic Levitator) on ISS (International Space Station) in collaboration with NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), ESA (European Space Agency), and DLR (German Aerospace Center). Zirconium samples with different oxygen concentrations was subjected to multiple melt cycles during which the thermophysical properties, such as density, viscosity and surface tension, have been measured at various undercooled and superheated temperatures. Also, there are melt cycles for verifying the solidification mechanism. Similar samples were found to show anomalous nucleation of the solid for certain ranges of stirring and undercooling. The facility check-out for MSL-EML and the first set of melting experiments were successfully performed in 2015. The first zirconium sample has been tested at the end of 2015. As part of ground support v activities, the thermophysical properties of zirconium and Zr−O (57 at. ppm - 5 at.%) were measured using a ground-based electrostatic levitator located at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. The influence of oxygen on the measured density, surface tension and viscosity were evaluated. The surface tension change from 1%/% O to 21%/% O. The noise of viscosity measurement makes the analysis difficult. No statistical difference values for density measurement. The results of this research served as inputs for planning measurements in MSL-EML experiments. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................. iv ABSTRACT .......................................................... v LIST OF TABLES .................................................... xi LIST OF FIGURES.................................................. xiv CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................. 1 2. BACKGROUND ...................................................2 2.1 Measurement methods . 2 2.1.1 Electromagnetic Levitation . 2 2.1.2 Electrostatic levitation . 6 2.1.3 Optical pyrometers . 8 2.2 Thermophysical property measurements . 9 2.2.1 Measurement pyrofile . 9 2.2.2 Density . 10 2.2.3 Surface tension and viscosity . 21 2.3 Crystal structures . 28 2.3.1 Introduction . 28 2.3.2 Crystal structures of metal materials . 30 2.3.3 Hexagonal Close Paced Structure (hcp) and unit cell volume ..... 30 2.3.4 Number of atoms per unit cell . 32 2.3.5 Partial molar volume . 33 2.4 Solid Zr-O system structure and volume . 34 vii 2.4.1 Introduction . 34 2.4.2 Calculation of partial molar volume of oxygen . 36 2.5 Oxygen in passivation layer . 38 2.6 Anomalous nucleation of crystalline phase. 39 2.6.1 Solidification process and convection . 39 2.6.2 Convection in non-contact methods . 41 2.6.3 Cavitation phenomena . 42 2.6.4 Hypothesis of cavitation on nucleation in metals . 47 2.6.5 Heterogeneous nucleation of cavities in liquids . 51 2.7 Turbulent eddies . 51 2.7.1 Introduction to Turbulent eddies . 51 2.7.2 Introduction to Richardson theory . 53 2.7.3 Introduction of Kolmogorov hypothesis . 54 2.8 CFD/MHD models description . 56 3. THE OXYGEN EFFECT ON LIQUID ZIRCONIUM THERMOPHYSICAL PROPERTIES USING ELECTROSTATIC LEVITATED (ESL) ........................ 66 3.1 Experiments using electrostatic levitation (ESL) . 66 3.1.1 Introduction . 66 3.1.2 ESL facility . 67 3.1.3 Oxygen in chamber . 67 3.2 ESL Samples . 68 3.2.1 Sample preparation . 68 3.2.2 Sample mass loss . 70 3.2.3 Oxide film and influence on composition . 70 3.2.4 LECO test result . 72 3.3 Temperature correction . 75 3.4 Density . 76 3.4.1 Experiment. 76 3.4.2 Data and analysis . 78 3.4.3 Notice for future measurement . 81 3.4.4 Partial molar volume . 82 3.5 Surface tension and viscosity . 87 viii 3.5.1 Experiment and Analysis method. 87 3.5.2 Surface tension Data and analysis . 88 3.5.3 Viscosity data and analysis . 95 3.5.4 Conclusion . 99 4. THE OXYGEN EFFECT ON LIQUID ZIRCONIUM THERMOPHYSICAL PROPERTIES USING ELECTROMAGNETICALLY LEVITATION (EML) IN REDUCED GRAVITY ....................................... 101 4.1 Experiments using electromagnetically levitation (EML) . 101 4.1.1 Introduction . 101 4.1.2 EML facility . 106 4.2 EML sample . 107 4.3 Density . 108 4.3.1 Experiment and analysis . 108 4.3.2 Processing tools . 110 4.3.3 Conclusion . 113 4.4 Surface tension and viscosity . 113 4.4.1 Experiment. 113 4.4.2 Data and analysis . 114 4.4.3 Conclusion . 116 5. CFD/MHD MODELING CONVECTION IN LIQUID METALS ..................................................... 117 5.1 Experiment motivation . 117 5.1.1 Motivation . 117 5.1.2 Introduction . 118 5.2 Pre-experiment analysis . 122 5.2.1 Analysis method . 122 5.2.2 MHD models and predicted result . 127 5.3 Experiment . 133 5.3.1 Cycles # 11-19 . 133 5.3.2 Experiment result . ..
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