Zirconium & Zirconium Alloy Strip, Sheet, and Plate
Zirconium & zirconium alloy strips, sheets, and plates shall be manufactured to ASTM B551. There are five grades available: Grade R60700: low oxygen zirconium, Grade R60702: unalloyed zirconium, Grade R60704: zirconium-tin, Grade R60705: zirconium-niobium, Grade R60706: zirconium-niobium.
Definitions of Zirconium & Zirconium Alloy Strip, Sheet & Plate
- Strip: a flat product, may be supplied in coil, less than 6 inch [150 mm] in width and from 0.005 inch [0.13 mm] to 0.188 inch [4.8 mm] in thickness.
- Sheet: a flat product 6 inch [150 mm] or more in width and from 0.005 inch [0.13 mm] to 0.188 inch [4.8 mm] in thickness.
- Plate: a flat product more than 0.125 inch [3.2 mm] in thickness.
Materials, Manufacture, Condition and Finish
The zirconium & zirconium alloy shall be made from ingots that are produced by vacuum or plasma arc melting, vacuum electron-beam melting, a combination of these three methods or other melting processes conventionally used for reactive metals. All processes to be done in furnaces usually used for reactive metals. The Zr or Zr alloy strip, sheet, and plate can be either hot rolled or cold rolled. Usually they shall be supplied in the recrystallized annealed condition unless otherwise specified. The finishes for hot rolled material can be designated as: not descaled, descaled, descaled and pickled, as-ground. The finishes for cold rolled material can be designated as: bright, Ground 32 μinch, pickled.
Chemical Composition of Zr & Zr Alloy Strip, Sheet & Plate
Element | ASTM B551 Grade | ||||
R60700 | R60702 | R60704 | R60705 | R60706 | |
Zirconium | ≥99.2 | ≥99.2 | ≥97.5 | ≥95.5 | ≥95.5 |
Hafnium | ≤4.5 | ≤4.5 | ≤4.5 | ≤4.5 | ≤4.5 |
Fe+Cr | ≤0.2 | ≤0.2 | 0.2~0.4 | ≤0.2 | ≤0.2 |
Tin | - | - | 1.0~2.0 | - | - |
Hydrogen | ≤0.005 | ≤0.005 | ≤0.005 | ≤0.005 | ≤0.005 |
Nitrogen | ≤0.025 | ≤0.025 | ≤0.025 | ≤0.025 | ≤0.025 |
Carbon | ≤0.05 | ≤0.05 | ≤0.05 | ≤0.05 | ≤0.05 |
Niobium | - | - | - | 2.0~3.0 | 2.0~3.0 |
Oxygen | ≤0.10 | ≤0.16 | ≤0.18 | ≤0.18 | ≤0.16 |
Mechanical Properties of Zr & Zr Alloy Strip, Sheet & Plate
ASTM B551 | Tensile Strength | Yield Strength | Elongation | Bend Test | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Grade | ksi | MPa | ksi | MPa | min. % | *T |
R60700 | ≤55 | ≤380 | ≤44 | ≤305 | 20 | 5T |
R60702 | ≥55 | ≥380 | ≥30 | ≥205 | 16 | 5T |
R60704 | ≥60 | ≥415 | ≥35 | ≥240 | 14 | 5T |
R60705 | ≥80 | ≥550 | ≥55 | ≥380 | 16 | 3T |
R60706 | ≥74 | ≥510 | ≥50 | ≥345 | 14 | 2.5T |