Abstract
This research is focused on characterizing the ratio of radially(R) orientated hydrides and circumferential(C) ones in Zircaloy cladding tubes with different concentration ratios. A procedure corporate with an experimental technique and an inversion algorism is used to investigate the effects of R/C ratio on the dispersion spectra of guided waves propagating in the tubes. An experimental technique employing laser ultrasound technique is used to measure the dispersion spectra of circumferentially guided waves propagating along the circumferential direction of the cladding tubes. An inversion algorism based on simplex method is used to extract interested properties from the measured dispersion spectra. It is shown that the procedure introduced in the current research is able to relate the phase velocities with different hydrogen concentration. In the meanwhile, this procedure is also able to distinguish the R/C ratio in a quantitative wayl. It is also found out that the bulk elastic modulus increases as the R/C ratio increases.
