Propagation of Stress-Corrosion Cracks in Unirradiated Zircaloy

Propagation of iodine-induced stress-corrosion cracks in Zircaloy was studied using pre-cracked and internally pressurized cladding tubes. These were recrystallized at different temperatures, to obtain grain sizes between 4 μ m and 10 μ m. No statistically significant difference in propagation rate due to the difference in grain size was observed.