Cold sprayed Cr-coating on Optimized ZIRLO™ claddings: the Cr/Zr interface and its microstructural and chemical evolution after autoclave corrosion testing

Cr-coated Optimized ZIRLO™ cladding material fabricated with the cold-spray deposition process is studied. Microstructure and chemistry of this material are investigated before and after exposure to autoclave corrosion testing with scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy analysis, electron backscattered diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and atom probe tomography. The results are used to assess what changes have occurred upon autoclave exposure. The formation of a compact, 80 – 100 nm thick Cr2O3 layer is observed on the surface of the exposed samples. Nucleation of ZrCr2 intermetallic phase is discovered at the Cr/Zr interface. This Laves phase nucleates inside the intermixed bonding layer that can be found in both pristine and exposed samples, and decorates the interface in the form of small particles (less than 50 nm in size). Using transmission electron microscopy and atom probe tomography the growth of a Zr-Cr-Fe phase was detected. This phase is found in the region of the Zr-substrate immediately adjacent to the coating, up to a few hundred nanometres distance from the Cr/Zr interface. A small degree of recrystallization occurs upon autoclave exposure in the 1-2 µm thick nanocrystalline layer produced on the Zr-substrate by the cold spray deposition method utilized for the fabrication of the Cr-coating.