Diffusion-controlled hydride growth near crack tip in zirconium under temperature transients

Hydride precipitation at stress concentrators such as crack tips in the zirconium alloys is a concern in nuclear power industry, since this diffusion-controlled process may lead to slow crack growth, even failure of structural components. A nonlinear diffusion model has been developed to simulate the moving boundary problem of a growing hydride at crack tip. Results show that this model provides reasonable predictions on the hydride growth behavior under temperature transients.