Determination of Fe and Cr content in α-Zr solid solution of Zircaloy-4 with different heat-treated states

A new method, which is a combination of extracting electrochemically Zr(Fe,Cr)2 particles from Zircaloy-4 and analyzing mass concentration in electrolyte by means of flame atomic absorption spectrometry, has been successfully established and used to determine the content of alloying elements Fe and Cr in α-Zr solid solution of Zircaloy-4 with different heat treatments. Along with the Fe/Cr ratio in α-Zr solid solution, the Fe and Cr content in α-Zr solid solution of β quenched sample is higher than that of α+β quenched sample, and the α-annealed sample has the lowest content, comparable to the solubility limits of Fe and Cr in α-Zr solid solution. Both Fe and Cr contents in the quenched states are much higher than its maximal solubility limit in α-Zr solid solution respectively.