The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 08, 2009
Filed:
Jul. 20, 2004
Pierre Barberis, Ugine, FR;
Claude Simonot, L'Aigle, FR;
Pierre Barberis, Ugine, FR;
Claude Simonot, L'Aigle, FR;
Compagnie Europeenne du Zirconium-Cezus, Courbevoie, FR;
Abstract
A method of fabricating a zirconium alloy flat product, the method being characterized by: preparing or casting a zirconium alloy ingot containing at least 95% by weight of zirconium, and including the usual impurities and alloying elements; shaping said ingot in order to obtain a flat product; subjecting said flat product to a β quenching operation under conditions that are determined to obtain within the flat product an acicular structure at the end of said β quenching; subjecting said flat product, after the β quenching, to a rolling operation performed in a single rolling sequence without intermediate annealing, said rolling being performed at a temperature lying in the range ambient to 200° C., and having a reduction ratio lying in the range 2% to 20%; and subjecting said rolled flat product to an annealing treatment in the a range or in the α+β range, performed in the temperature range 500° C. to 800° C. for 2 minutes to 10 hours. A zirconium alloy flat product as obtained by the method, and a fuel assembly element for a power station nuclear reactor obtained by shaping the product.