Investigation on Microstructures and High-Temperature Oxidation Resistance of Cr Coatings on Zircaloy-4 by Multi-Arc Ion Plating Technology

Introducing the oxidation-resistant coating on Zr alloy is considered to be one of the potential solutions for accident-tolerant fuel (ATF) materials. In this study, pure Cr coatings were prepared on a Zircaloy-4 (Zry-4) alloy surface by multi-arc ion plating under different process parameters. The ability of Cr coating on Zry-4 alloy cladding to improve the oxidation resistance to prevent a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) was studied. The microstructure of Cr coating was analyzed using the EBSD technique, and the high-temperature steam oxidation was tested at 800, 1000 and 1200 °C. Compared with the original Zry-4 alloy, the samples with Cr coatings exhibited much better oxidation resistance under different high-temperature steam oxidation conditions. However, the Cr coating exhibited columnar grain, strong preferred orientation and (001) fiber texture. The columnar grain boundaries provided paths for the diffusion of oxygen atoms to the Zry-4 alloy matrix at high temperatures. The results showed that the oxidation film of Cr coating with relatively random grain orientation was compact and uniform and exhibited the best oxidation resistance at high temperatures.