Effect of High-Temperature Heating Cycle on Mechanical Strength Degradation of 95 wt% Metallic Zirconium in Alkaline Fusion Environment
Abstract
Zirconium and its alloys are metals that resist high temperatures, have good mechanical characteristics, and resist corrosion attacks. PT Timah uses metallic zirconium for tin ore smelting reactors involving alkaline fusion at a heating temperature of 800 °C in 10 minutes. Under these conditions, zirconium fails after 1000 minutes of accumulative heating. In this study, a simulation of tin ore smelting was conducted with 100 minutes each cycle. Tensile strength and Vickers hardness tests were conducted at cycles 0, 3, 6, 9, and 12 to observe the degradation that occurred. The results showed that the samples decreased their UTS and lost their elasticity as the heating cycle increased. At cycle 9, the samples experienced the largest decrease in UTS of 80% from 406.76 MPa to 81.20 MPa. The Vickers hardness of the sample surface increased from 180 VHN to 1031.42 VHN while the strain decreased from 11.90% to 3.70%.
Keywords: Zirconium, High-Temperature, Crucible, Alkaline Fusion
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