Chemistry:Mulberry (uranium alloy)
Mulberry is a uranium alloy. It is used as a non-corroding[1] or 'stainless'[2] uranium alloy.[3] It has been put forward as a structural material for the casings of the physics package in nuclear weapons, including those of North Korea.[4]
The composition is a ternary alloy,[5][6] of 7.5% niobium, 2.5% zirconium, 90% uranium.[3]
Mulberry was developed in the 1960s at UCRL.[6][7] Binary alloy compositions were first studied to avoid the mechanical problems of pure uranium: corrosion, dimensional instability, inability to improve its mechanical properties by heat treatment.[8] Uranium-molybdenum alloys were found susceptible to stress-corrosion cracking, uranium-niobium alloys to be weak, and uranium-zirconium alloys to be brittle.[8] Ternary alloys were next studied to try to avoid these drawbacks. Uranium-niobium-zirconium was found to be corrosion resistant and to permit age hardening, which could increase its hardness from 110 to 270 ksi.[8][9]
Multiple crystal phases were observed, with a critical temperature of 650°C. Above this the body-centered cubic γ phase was stable. Water quenching to room temperature produces a γs transition phase and with aging this transforms to a tetragonal γo phase. Further aging produces a monoclinic ɑ″ phase that is observed metallographically as a Widmanstätten pattern.[10][11] The crystal structure of the alloy has been studied, particularly the γ phase.[6][7][12][13] Uranium inclusions have been observed within the alloy although, unlike the binary alloys, niobium-rich inclusions were not.[14] Early studies were uncertain as to whether these were inherent behaviours, or artifacts of their processing.
References
- ↑ Larson, D.T. (1971). "Oxidation of a Ternary Uranium Alloy". Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology 8 (1): 80. doi:10.1116/1.1316361. Bibcode: 1971JVST....8...80L.
- ↑ Henry, Charles R. (February 26, 1965). Plutonium and Uranium as Engineering Materials (Report). University of California, Lawrence Radiation Laboratory. pp. 7–8. doi:10.2172/4546042. AEC Contract No. W-7405-eng-48. https://www.osti.gov/scitech/servlets/purl/4546042. Retrieved November 18, 2017.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "North Korea bargains with nuclear diplomacy". Jane's. p. 10. http://www.janes.com/images/assets/111/75111/North_Korea_bargains_with_nuclear_diplomacy.pdf.
- ↑ Jane's, North Korea, p. 9.
- ↑ Williams, R.O. (June 1979). "Stability of the body-centered cubic gamma phase in the uranium-zirconium-niobium system". J. Nucl. Mater. 82 (1): 184–192. doi:10.1016/0022-3115(79)90052-7. Bibcode: 1979JNuM...82..184W.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Vandervoort, R.R.; Peterson, C.A.W. (1964). Mechanical Properties of Some Uranium Alloys (Report). UCRL. doi:10.2172/4560786. UCRL-7771. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1031428/. Retrieved 2017-11-18.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Vandervoort, R.R.; Peterson, C.A.W. (1964). The Properties of a Metastable Gamma Phase Uranium-base Alloy: U-7.5 Nb 2.5 Zr (Report). UCRL. UCRL-7869. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc867893/. Retrieved 2017-11-18.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Hoge, K.G; Kuhn, B.A.; Reshenk, V.L. (1973). Flow behavior of mulberry uranium (Report). 4. California Univ., Livermore (USA). Lawrence Livermore Lab. UCRL-51346. http://www.iaea.org/inis/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/04/075/4075681.pdf?r=1. Retrieved 2017-11-18.
- ↑ Erickson, W. C.; Jaynes, G. E.; Sandstrcsn, D. J.; Seegmiller, R.; Taub, J. M. (September 1972). Evaluation of Uranium Alloys (Report). LASL. pp. 8–13. http://permalink.lanl.gov/object/tr?what=info:lanl-repo/lareport/LA-05002. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
- ↑ Dean, C.W. (24 October 1969). A Study of the Time-Temperature Transformation Behavior of a Uranium=7.5 weight per cent Niobium-2.5 weight per cent Zirconium Alloy (Report). Union Carbide Corporation, Y-12 Plant, Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Oak Ridge Report Y-1694. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1033722/m2/1/high_res_d/4749751.pdf. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
- ↑ Vandermeer, R.A. (1973). Recent Observations of Phase Transformations in a U-Nb-Zr Alloy (Report). Metals and Ceramics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory. https://www.osti.gov/scitech/servlets/purl/4309129. Retrieved 2017-11-18.
- ↑ Abey, A.E.; Joslyn, E.D. (April 1972). "The elastic constants of uranium-7.5% niobium-2.5% zirconium as a function of pressure". J. Less Common Met. 27 (1): 9–15. doi:10.1016/0022-5088(72)90099-9.
- ↑ Lopes, Denise Adorno; Restivo, Thomaz Augusto Guisard; de Lima, Nelson Batista; Padilha, Angelo Fernando (2014). "Gamma-phase homogenization and texture in U–7.5Nb–2.5Zr (Mulberry) alloy". Journal of Nuclear Materials 449, Issues 1–3, June 2014, Pages 23-30 (1–3): 23–30. doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2014.02.030. Bibcode: 2014JNuM..449...23L.
- ↑ Gareth Thomas, ed (1972). Electron Microscopy and Structure of Materials. University of California Press. pp. 340–345. ISBN 0520021142. https://books.google.com/books?id=1yiRUg7ooO8C&pg=PA340. Retrieved 2020-09-30.
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