Embedded fiber-optic sensors for in-pile applications

Christian Petrie, Niyanth Sridharan, Curtis Frederick, Travis McFalls, Sudarsanam Suresh Babu, Adam Hehr, Mark Norfolk, John Sheridan

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Qualification and commercialization of new nuclear fuels and materials requires a comprehensive set of data regarding behavior under irradiation. There are currently very limited options for in-situ monitoring of material evolution during irradiation due to the extremely harsh environment (i.e., high temperatures and intense radiation) of materials test reactors. This paper describes work being performed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to embed metal-coated fiber-optic sensors into in-core irradiation experiments to enable measurement of radial dimensional changes and spatially distributed temperature and strain. Some critical issues that must be addressed before embedded fiber optics can be deployed in-core include (1) embedding of metal-coated fibers without failure or prohibitively large signal attenuation, (2) embedding in curved channels to allow for radial dimensional measurements, and (3) demonstrating that embedded fibers can survive the large stresses that result from differential thermal expansion between the glass fiber and the surrounding metal matrix. This work shows how optical fibers have been successfully embedded in aluminum and copper alloys in both straight and curved channels with various bend radii. The embedded fibers have also survived heating to temperatures of 500°C and cooling to room temperature. This paper presents some of the experimental results including measured light attenuation resulting from embedding with and without bends and high-temperature testing.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication11th Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control, and Human-Machine Interface Technologies, NPIC and HMIT 2019
PublisherAmerican Nuclear Society
Pages459-468
Number of pages10
ISBN (Electronic)9780894487835
StatePublished - 2019
Event11th Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control, and Human-Machine Interface Technologies, NPIC and HMIT 2019 - Orlando, United States
Duration: Feb 9 2019Feb 14 2019

Publication series

Name11th Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control, and Human-Machine Interface Technologies, NPIC and HMIT 2019

Conference

Conference11th Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control, and Human-Machine Interface Technologies, NPIC and HMIT 2019
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityOrlando
Period02/9/1902/14/19

Funding

This research is sponsored by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for the US Department of Energy. This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy (DOE). The US government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan).

FundersFunder number
US Department of Energy
UT-Battelle
U.S. Department of Energy
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
UT-Battelle

    Keywords

    • Embedded
    • Fiber optics
    • In-pile
    • Sensors

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