General Electric Company

Donald C Bartosik

Eric B Johansson

Ronald B Adamson

Cedric D Williams

A method of manufacturing fuel channels made of zirconium-based alloy by combining heat treatment, warm forming and thermal sizing. Fuel channel strip material is heated to a temperature which initiates the transformation from a hexagonal close-packed to a body-centered cubic crystallographic phase and then quenched at a rate which initiates transformation to a hexagonal close-packed crystallographic phase having a texture factor f.sub.L =0.28-0.38. The heat-treated strips are formed into fuel channel components by bending at an elevated temperature sufficient to increase the ductility of the strip material. After the fuel channel components are welded together, the fuel channel is annealed by thermal sizing.

Dimensionally stable and corrosion-resistant fuel channels and related

A method of manufacturing components made of zirconium-based alloy by combining heat treatment with thermal sizing. The heat treatment includes heating the component to a temperature which initiates the transformation from a hexagonal close-packed crystallographic phase of uniform texture to a body-centered cubic crystallographic phase and then quenching to a quench temperature at a rate which initiates transformation to a hexagonal close-packed crystallographic phase having a texture factor f.sub.L =0.28-0.38. The thermal sizing includes heating the component to a temperature less than the quench temperature, but sufficient to anneal the component, and then cooling. Preferably, the thermal sizing is performed twice: before and after the heat treatment.

Growing community of inventors

Wilmington, NC, United States of America

Donald C Bartosik