Experimental design and analysis for irradiation of SiC/SiC composite tubes under a prototypic high heat flux

JOURNAL OF NUCLEAR MATERIALS

卷:491

Article

Petrie, Christian M.¹  Koyanagi, Takaaki¹  McDuffee, Joel L.¹  Deck, Christian P.²  Katoh, Yutai¹  Terrani, Kurt A.¹ 

[1] Oak Ridge Natl Lab, POB 2008, Oak Ridge, TN 37831 USA

[2] Gen Atom, POB 85608, San Diego, CA 92121 USA

关键词: Silicon;    Carbide;    Cladding;    Irradiation;    Design;    Composite;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.jnucmat.2017.04.058

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

The purpose of this work is to design an irradiation vehicle for testing silicon carbide (SiC) fiber reinforced SiC matrix composite cladding materials under conditions representative of a light water reactor in order to validate thermo-mechanical models of stress states in these materials due to irradiation swelling and differential thermal expansion. The design allows for a constant tube outer surface temperature in the range of 300-350 degrees C under a representative high heat flux (similar to 0.66 MW/m(2)) during one cycle of irradiation in an un-instrumented rabbit capsule in the High Flux Isotope Reactor. An engineered aluminum foil was developed to absorb the expansion of the cladding tubes, due to irradiation swelling, without changing the thermal resistance of the gap between the cladding and irradiation capsule. Finite-element analyses of the capsule were performed, and the models used to calculate thermal contact resistance were validated by out-of-pile testing and post-irradiation examination of the foils and passive SiC thermometry. Six irradiated cladding tubes (both monoliths and composites) were irradiated and subsequently disassembled in a hot cell. The calculated temperatures of passive SiC thermometry inside the capsules showed good agreement with temperatures measured post-irradiation, with two calculated temperatures falling within 10 degrees C of experimental measurements. The success of this design could lead to new opportunities for irradiation applications with materials that suffer from irradiation swelling, creep, or other dimensional changes that can affect the specimen temperature during irradiation. Published by Elsevier B.V.

【 授权许可】

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