Fretting Wear Behavior of Zr-2.5Nb Pressure Tubes Coupled with Bearing Pads in a Simulated Water of Primary Loop for Heavy Water Reactor

doi:10.11901/1005.3093.2025.204

Chinese Journal of Materials Research

2026, Vol. 40

Issue (3): 217-224 DOI: 10.11901/1005.3093.2025.204

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Fretting Wear Behavior of Zr-2.5Nb Pressure Tubes Coupled with Bearing Pads in a Simulated Water of Primary Loop for Heavy Water Reactor

ZHAO Guannan¹, WANG Shuji²^,³, ZHANG Yusheng²(

), MING Hongliang²(

), XI Jianxun⁴, WANG Jianqiu², HAN En-Hou⁵

^1.State Key Laboratory of Materials for Advanced Nuclear Energy, Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research & Design Institute Co., Ltd., Shanghai 200233, China
^2.CAS Key Laboratory of Nuclear Materials and Safety Assessment, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China
^3.School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819, China
^4.China North Nuclear Fuel Co., Ltd., Baotou 014035, China
^5.Institute of Corrosion Science and Technology, Guangzhou 510530, China

Cite this article:

ZHAO Guannan, WANG Shuji, ZHANG Yusheng, MING Hongliang, XI Jianxun, WANG Jianqiu, HAN En-Hou. Fretting Wear Behavior of Zr-2.5Nb Pressure Tubes Coupled with Bearing Pads in a Simulated Water of Primary Loop for Heavy Water Reactor. Chinese Journal of Materials Research, 2026, 40(3): 217-224.

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Abstract

Fretting wear between Zr-2.5Nb pressure tubes and bearing pads occurs inevitably owing to flow induced vibration during the operation of heavy water reactor, which can be regarded as one of the main failure forms of pressure tubes. The fretting wear behavior between Zr-2.5Nb pressure tubes and bearing pads under two typical vibration conditions in a simulated water of primary loop for heavy water reactor was investigated. The wear degree, wear mechanism and material degradation form of the pressure tube were analyzed. The results showed that the main wear mechanism of the pressure tube was abrasive wear, and the sub-mechanism was micro-ploughing. Abrasive wear of the pressure tube was aggravated under severe vibration condition, resulting in a serious damage of the pressure tube. In addition, the formation mechanisms of abrasives and grooves were discussed in detail.

Key words: materials failure and protection fretting wear pressure tube high temperature pressurized water

Received: 13 June 2025

ZTFLH:

TB31

Fund: Postdoctoral Fellowship Program (Grade C) of China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(GZC20232749);IMR Innovation Fund(2024-PY13);Youth Innovation Promotion Association CAS(2022187)

Corresponding Authors: ZHANG Yusheng, Tel: (024)23998826, E-mail: yshzhang19b@imr.ac.cn;
MING Hongliang, Tel: (024)23998826, E-mail: hlming12s@imr.ac.cn

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	Articles by authors
	ZHAO Guannan
	WANG Shuji
	ZHANG Yusheng
	MING Hongliang
	XI Jianxun
	WANG Jianqiu
	HAN En-Hou

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https://www.cjmr.org/EN/10.11901/1005.3093.2025.204 OR https://www.cjmr.org/EN/Y2026/V40/I3/217

Fig.1 Installation picture of pressure tube sample and bearing pad sample

Fig.2 Variations of F_t-D curves with fretting cycles under two conditions (a, b) 10 N, (c, d) 40 N

Fig.3 3D morphologies of worn areas on Zr-2.5Nb pressure tube under two conditions (a) 10 N, (b) 40 N

Fig.4 Cross-sectional profile (a), the maximum wear depth (b), wear volume (c) and Archard wear coefficient (d) of worn area on Zr-2.5Nb pressure tube under two conditions

Fig.5 Surface morphologies of worn areas on Zr-2.5Nb pressure tubes under two conditions (a, b) 10 N, (c, d) 40 N

Fig.6 Cross-sectional morphologies of worn area on Zr-2.5Nb pressure tube under 10 N (a) overall image, (b) magnified image of region A, (c, d) magnified images of local regions

Fig.7 Cross-sectional morphologies of worn area on Zr-2.5Nb pressure tube under 40 N (a) overall image, (b) edge image of worn area, (c) magnified image of local region, (d) magnified image of region B

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