Abstract
Pulsed laser spot welding was developed for the fabrication of Zircaloy spacer grid assembly in pressurized light water reactors. The effects of laser welding parameters on the size of the weld beads were discussed. The influence of oxygen and hydrogen uptakes during the welding process on the corrosion resistance was investigated after the corrosion tests. The results indicate that the optimum weld bead size could be obtained by adjusting the pulsed laser parameters, including laser peak power, number of shots, and pulse width. Pulse width should be taken into consideration to control the weld width. When the moisture and oxygen contents were maintained at a low level, i.e., 200 parts per million (ppm) and 30 ppm, respectively, the oxide thickness of specimens corroded for 120 h was about 0.7 μm compared to about 1.5 μm at high moisture and oxygen contents (1,000 and 280 ppm). The combination of the oxidation and hydriding induced cracking was responsible for the crack of the specimens welded under high moisture and oxygen contents, thereby decreasing the corrosion resistance of the welding specimens.
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Cai, C., Tao, W., Li, L. et al. Weld bead formation and corrosion behavior of pulsed laser welded zirconium alloy. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 77, 621–628 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-014-6474-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-014-6474-3