Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research

Title

Modeling the Tension-Compression Asymmetric Yield Behavior of -Treated Zircaloy-4

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Summer 8-2014

Abstract

Zirconium alloys such as Zircaloy-4 are used in nuclear applications due to adequate strength, ductility and resistance to radiation damage. Recent modeling efforts have focused on improvements to the predicted elastic–plastic response, complicated by the strong strength-differential (S-D) effects in HCP materials. This study develops a pressure-insensitive, continuum plasticity model, dependent on the second and third invariants of the stress deviator (J2 and J3), with an internal variable related to the plastic strain to describe the tension–compression asymmetry of a β-treated Zircaloy-4. Plastic deformation drives isotropic and distortional hardening of the non-Mises yield surface. The proposed plasticity model has been calibrated and validated using measured results from an experimental test program. Results show that the proposed model captures the complex elastic–plastic response observed in measured load–displacement and torque–rotation curves over a range of triaxiality and Lode parameter values.

Publication Title

Journal of Nuclear Materials

Volume

451

Issue

1-3

First Page

292

Last Page

299

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