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Zirconium tube is an alloy tubular material made from zirconium metal and other metals. Due to the excellent nuclear and corrosion resistance properties of zirconium, zirconium alloy tube rods are often used as important nuclear materials for nuclear fuel components and internal structures in water-cooled reactors. Pure zirconium rods are mainly used to manufacture chemical equipment because they are expensive and have limited usage. The chemical composition and applications of commonly used zirconium tube rods are shown in the table, among which zirconium tin alloy tube rods are used in larger quantities.

Process characteristics

(1) Zirconium has a strong affinity for gases and begins to react with oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen at around 200, 300, and 400 ℃, respectively. The reaction is rapid at higher temperatures, so melting and heat treatment must be carried out in a vacuum furnace. When performing thermal processing in the atmosphere, appropriate protective measures should be taken and the operating time at high temperatures should be shortened.

(2) Zirconium has a high coefficient of friction with molds and is prone to adhere to the surface of the mold; The thermal effect of plastic deformation is significant, and good lubrication conditions are required during processing.

(3) Processing standards have a sensitive impact on the performance of products. Special attention should be paid to controlling the cold processing and heat treatment processes before the finished product to meet the usage requirements.

(4) The dimensional accuracy and surface quality requirements for pipe and bar materials are very high. Therefore, the process equipment should have good precision, and the design and production of tools and molds should be advanced and reasonable.