EFFECTS OF RECRYSTALLIZATION AND NB ADDITIONS ON TEXTURE AND MECHANICAL ANISOTROPY OF ZIRCALOY

The effect of recrystallization on the crystallographic textures and a nisotropic mechanical properties of Zircaloy-4 sheets was investigated . In addition, the influence of niobium additions on these properties was studied using three different alloys. The mechanical anisotropy pa rameters were determined by mechanical testing of gridded tensile samp les. The textures were characterized by X-ray pole figure measurements and crystallite orientation distribution functions (CODFs). The CODFs were combined with a crystal plasticity model to predict the anisotro py parameters based on the dominance individually of basal, prism and pyramidal slip systems. Good agreement was noted between the experimen tal results and model predictions based on prism slip for the recrysta llized materials, while the results on cold-worked sheets differed fro m model predictions for all the three slip systems.