Heat treatment of depleted uranium (DU) alloys with 4.0 wt% or more molybdenum or equivalent is similar to that of dilute alloys. This article discusses the metallurgical characteristics and processing considerations of DU and its alloys, and describes the control of grain size and orientation using beta treatment. It lists the typical mechanical properties of DU as functions of the amount of cold work and hardness data of uranium rod, and describes the annealing of cold-worked DU. The article also describes the heat treatment of dilute alloys of DU, focusing on the three basic furnace designs used for heating or heat treating of unalloyed uranium: molten salt baths, inert-atmosphere furnaces, and vacuum furnaces. Finally, it presents procedures that are examples of heat treatment used to meet certain specifications of ultimate tensile strength, yield strength, and elongation.

This article is a compilation of binary alloy phase diagrams for which uranium (U) is the first named element in the binary pair. The diagrams are presented with element compositions in weight percent. The atomic percent compositions are given in a secondary scale. For each binary system, a table of crystallographic data is provided that includes the composition, Pearson symbol, space group, and prototype for each phase.

This article reviews general corrosion of uranium and its alloys under atmospheric and aqueous exposure as well as with gaseous environments. It describes the dependence of uranium and uranium alloy corrosion on microstructure, alloying, solution chemistry, and temperature as well as galvanic interactions between uranium, its alloys, and other metals. The article provides information on the atmospheric corrosion of uranium based on oxidation in dry air or oxygen, water vapor, and oxygen-water vapor mixtures depending upon particular storage conditions. The mechanism and morphology of hydride corrosion of uranium are discussed. The article provides information on environmentally assisted cracking, protective coatings, and surface modification of uranium and its alloys. It also summarizes the environmental, safety, and health considerations for their use.

This article discusses the principles of physical metallurgy and metallography of depleted uranium. It describes the techniques involved in the preparation of thin foils for transmission electron microscopy and illustrates the resulting microstructure of uranium and uranium alloys, with the aid of black and white images. The article also provides information on the applications of etching and examination of uranium alloys, at both macro and micro scales, in characterizing the grain structures, segregation patterns, inclusions, and the metal flow geometries produced by solidification and mechanical working processes.

Very high density materials are used for such applications as counterweights and radiation shields. This article focuses on the metallurgy, processing, properties, fabrication, design considerations, health and safety considerations, and applications of the most commonly used very high density materials: depleted uranium and tungsten and their alloys.

Uranium is a moderately strong and ductile metal that can be cast, formed, and welded by a variety of standard methods. This article presents an overview of the processing and properties of uranium and uranium alloys with a brief overview of the principal hazards and precautions associated with processing depleted uranium and methods to control mild radioactivity, chemical toxicity, and pyrophoricity. It also describes the classification and heat treatment of uranium and uranium alloys. Furthermore, the article provides graphical representation of the effect of alloy composition, cooling rate, and aging temperature on microstructure, crystal structure, and mechanical properties of uranium and uranium alloys.

This article focuses on the basic metallurgy and machining parameters of classes of depleted and enriched uranium alloys. It provides information on the health precautions applicable to the machining of depleted uranium alloys. The article also discusses tool wear and the types of tools used in uranium alloy machining.

Neutron activation analysis (NAA) is a highly sensitive and accurate method of assaying bulk materials for trace levels of many elements. This article provides a detailed account on several types of NAA, namely, nondestructive and radiochemical thermal neutron activation, delayed neutron counting, epithermal and 14-MeV fast neutron activation, and prompt gamma activation analysis. It also includes application examples, explaining where and how each method is used and the types of elements on which they are effective.

This article provides an introduction to the molecular fluorescence spectroscopy, and discusses the theory of fluorescence and its application to chemical analysis. It provides information on fluorescence that occurs in organic compounds and inorganic atoms and molecules. The article describes the instruments used in the spectroscopy, namely, radiation sources, sample holders, wavelength selectors, detectors, computers, and ratiometric instruments. The practical considerations include solvent effects, corrected spectra, wavelength calibration, temperature, and scattered light. The article also discusses the uses of some special techniques used in molecular fluorescence spectroscopy.