# The effect of {\delta}-hydride on the micromechanical deformation of Zircaloy-4 studied by in situ high angular resolution electron backscatter diffraction

## TL;DR

This study investigates how { extdelta}-hydride affects the micromechanical deformation of Zircaloy-4 using in situ high angular resolution electron backscatter diffraction, revealing differences in stress and dislocation behavior during bending.

## Contribution

It introduces in situ HR-EBSD analysis of hydride effects on Zircaloy-4 deformation, highlighting the role of hydride-matrix interfaces and GND accumulation.

## Key findings

- Hydride presence causes GND pile-up at interfaces.
- Hydride-containing samples show increased local GND density under stress.
- Hydride-free samples accommodate stress mainly through slip.

## Abstract

Zircaloy-4 is used extensively as nuclear fuel cladding materials and hydride embrittlement is a major failure mechanism. To explore the effect of {\delta}-hydride on plastic deformation and performance of Zircaloy-4, in situ high angular resolution electron backscatter diffraction (HR-EBSD) was used to quantify stress and geometrically necessary dislocation (GND) density during bending tests of hydride-free and hydride-containing single crystal Zircaloy-4 microcantilevers. Results suggest that while the stress applied was accommodated by plastic slip in the hydride-free cantilever, the hydride-containing cantilever showed precipitation induced GND pile-up at hydride-matrix interface pre-deformation, and considerable locally increasing GND density under tensile stress upon plastic deformation.

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/1903.11558