Refractory materials, such as molybdenum and niobium, are potential candidates for cladding material due to their high melting temperatures and desirable mechanical properties at higher temperatures than those of zirconium alloys. However, refractory materials have low resistance to oxidation at elevated temperatures. Therefore, this study examined silicide or aluminide surface coatings as protection against rapid oxidation of refractory materials at elevated temperatures for a potential accident-tolerant fuel cladding. Silicide or aluminide layers were formed on refractory metal substrates by using the pack cementation method. The steam oxidation behavior of both coated and uncoated samples was compared by thermogravimetric analysis at 1200°C. The weight changes of the coated samples were greatly reduced than those of uncoated samples. Microstructural analyses demonstrated that the silicide and aluminide layers were oxidized to form a protective surface oxide that prevented rapid oxidation of the refractory substrate at elevated temperatures.

Refractory materials, such as W and Mo, are very useful elements for use in high-temperature applications. But it is not easy to fabricat pure W and Mo with very high density and retaining very fine grain size because of their high melting point. In this paper, a newly developed method named as resistance sintering under ultra high pressure was use to fabricate pure fine-grained W and Mo. The microstructure was analysis by SEM. The sintering mechanism is primary analyzed. Basic physical property of these sintered pure W and Mo, such as hardness, bend strength, are tested.

Driven by the unavailibility of commercial test equipment for tensile and creep testing at temperatures up to 3000°C a measuring system has been developed and constructed at the University of Applied Sciences, Jena. These temperatures are reached with precision by heating samples directly by electric current. Contact-less strain measurements are carried out with image processing software utilizing a CCD camera system. This paper covers results of creep tests which have been conducted on TZM sheet material (thickness 2 mm) in different heat-treatment conditions in the temperature range between 1200°C and 1600°C.