EFFECT OF THE LATTICE STRAIN ON THE THERMOELECTRIC-POWER IN A BETA-QUENCHED ZR-1.14 WT-PERCENT-CR-0.1 WT-PERCENT-FE ALLOY

A Zr-1.14 wt. %Cr-0.1 wt. %Fe alloy was beta-quenched from 1050-degree s-C to produce a supersaturated alpha' phase and then reheated for var ying times at temperatures of 350-degrees-C, 550-degrees-C, or 760-deg rees-C to produce precipitation of the Zr(CrFe)2 phase. Thermoelectric power (TEP) measurements and X-ray line broadening analysis were used to determine the TEP value, DELTAS (muV/K), and the lattice strain, e psilon (microstrain), respectively. It is shown that both increasing Z r(CrFe)2 precipitation from the alpha' matrix, which decreases the (Cr + Fe) content in the matrix, and increasing lattice strain, epsilon, result in an increase in the TEP value.