Radiation Induced Stress Relaxation in Silicone and Polyurethane Elastomers

Spellman, G ; Gourdin, W ; Jensen, W ; Pearson, M ; Fine, I

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

关键词: Atomic Number;    Compression;    Ionizing Radiations;    Us National Ignition Facility;    Radiation Sources;   

DOI  :  10.2172/924961
RP-ID  :  UCRL-TR-235221
RP-ID  :  W-7405-ENG-48
RP-ID  :  924961

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

Many different materials are used in the National Ignition Facility, NIF, located at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, LLNL. Some of these are exposed to significant doses of ionizing radiation. Two elastomers are of special interest because they are used in sealing applications with long expected lifetimes. These are LPU4, a polyurethane formulated at LLNL, and Dow Corning DC93-500, a silicone RTV elastomer. In 2004 a program to determine the impact of ionizing radiation on the stress relaxation and compression set characteristics of these two elastomers was undertaken. Since the materials are used in continuous compression and must reliably seal, the primary test utilized was a stress relaxation test. This test provides insight into the ability of a seal to remain functional in a static seal. The test determines how much residual force remains after a certain period of time under compression. The temperature and absorbed radiation dose can dramatically impact this property. In this study the only independent environmental variable studied is the effect of radiation at ambient temperatures. Two levels of radiation exposure were studied, 1 MRad, and 10 MRad. One of the independent test parameters is the compression deflection during storage and in this test the value used was 25%. The need for a compression retention mechanism ruled out radiation exposure in the compressed direction since the high atomic number materials for that device would block the radiation. Therefore, an annular ring was chosen for the specimen shape. The procedures are, as closely as possible, based on ASTM D 6147-97. Since the data is readily obtained at the end of the stress relaxation test, the samples were also evaluated for compression set. Compression set is the essentially permanent deformation incurred in a seal after the seal is compressed for some period of time and then unloaded. Though this is indicative of potential sealing reliability, it is not as direct an indicator of seal performance as is stress relaxation. Compression set does not yield any useable, quantified information but is an indicator of viscoelastic deformation with time. The needed thickness measurements were obtained both from the unloading curves and direct measurement in general accordance with ASTM D395-03. The radiation source for this testing was the Co60 gamma source located at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). This source has an exposure vessel approximately 29.2cm (11.5-inch) tall with an inside diameter of 7.44cm (2.93-inch). Because of the geometry limits, cylindrical symmetry and limited volume, a standard stress relaxation test such as ASTM D 6147-97 could not be utilized and a modified test was developed. An additional constraint imposed by the vertical asymmetry of the radiation dose in the exposure chamber was a limited height with reasonably uniform radiation exposure. The specific dimensions and radiation characteristics of the test cell are in Appendix A.