Small-bubble gas injection to mitigate cavitation-induced erosion damage and reduce strain in target vessels at the spallation neutron source

David A. McClintock; Yun Liu; Douglas R. Bruce; Drew E. Winder; Richard G. Schwartz; Matt Kyte; Willem Blokland; Robert L. Sangrey; Timothy M. Carroll; Cary D. Long; Hao Jiang; Bernard W. Riemer

doi:10.1016/j.matdes.2022.110937

Small-bubble gas injection to mitigate cavitation-induced erosion damage and reduce strain in target vessels at the spallation neutron source

David A. McClintock, Yun Liu, Douglas R. Bruce, Drew E. Winder, Richard G. Schwartz, Matt Kyte, Willem Blokland, Robert L. Sangrey, Timothy M. Carroll, Cary D. Long, Hao Jiang, Bernard W. Riemer

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

The effectiveness of small-bubble gas injection to mitigate cavitation-induced erosion damage and decrease strain in Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) target vessels was characterized using photography, laser-line scanning, and in-situ vessel strain measurements. Observations from early targets showed that erosion damage caused appreciable mass loss along the target vessel inner wall. Later target designs incorporated a cavitation mitigation technique called small-bubble gas injection, in which small helium gas bubbles were introduced into the flowing mercury during operation. Samples removed from target vessels after operation revealed that gas injection greatly reduced or eliminated erosion damage. Photographs of the target interiors showed areas where significant erosion damage occurred in targets that were operated without gas injection. The same areas had no observable erosion damage in targets that were operated with gas injection. Laser-line scan measurements were performed on samples from several target vessels operated with and without gas injection to measure the extent of erosion damage and quantify the effect of gas injection on erosion. In-situ strain measurements during operation showed that gas injection reduced the target vessel strain by 25%–75%. These results provide conclusive confirmation that gas injection effectively mitigated erosion damage and reduced strain in SNS target vessels during operation.

Original language	English
Article number	110937
Journal	Materials and Design
Volume	221
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2022.110937
State	Published - Sep 2022
Externally published	Yes

Funding

The SNS is sponsored by the Office of Science, US Department of Energy, and managed by UT-Battelle, LLC for the US Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC05-00OR22725. Notice: 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 ( https://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan ).

Keywords

Cavitation
Erosion
Gas injection
Liquid metal
Mercury
Spallation
Stainless steel
Target

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10.1016/j.matdes.2022.110937

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McClintock, D. A., Liu, Y., Bruce, D. R., Winder, D. E., Schwartz, R. G., Kyte, M., Blokland, W., Sangrey, R. L., Carroll, T. M., Long, C. D., Jiang, H., & Riemer, B. W. (2022). Small-bubble gas injection to mitigate cavitation-induced erosion damage and reduce strain in target vessels at the spallation neutron source. Materials and Design, 221, Article 110937. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2022.110937

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title = "Small-bubble gas injection to mitigate cavitation-induced erosion damage and reduce strain in target vessels at the spallation neutron source",

abstract = "The effectiveness of small-bubble gas injection to mitigate cavitation-induced erosion damage and decrease strain in Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) target vessels was characterized using photography, laser-line scanning, and in-situ vessel strain measurements. Observations from early targets showed that erosion damage caused appreciable mass loss along the target vessel inner wall. Later target designs incorporated a cavitation mitigation technique called small-bubble gas injection, in which small helium gas bubbles were introduced into the flowing mercury during operation. Samples removed from target vessels after operation revealed that gas injection greatly reduced or eliminated erosion damage. Photographs of the target interiors showed areas where significant erosion damage occurred in targets that were operated without gas injection. The same areas had no observable erosion damage in targets that were operated with gas injection. Laser-line scan measurements were performed on samples from several target vessels operated with and without gas injection to measure the extent of erosion damage and quantify the effect of gas injection on erosion. In-situ strain measurements during operation showed that gas injection reduced the target vessel strain by 25%–75%. These results provide conclusive confirmation that gas injection effectively mitigated erosion damage and reduced strain in SNS target vessels during operation.",

keywords = "Cavitation, Erosion, Gas injection, Liquid metal, Mercury, Spallation, Stainless steel, Target",

author = "McClintock, {David A.} and Yun Liu and Bruce, {Douglas R.} and Winder, {Drew E.} and Schwartz, {Richard G.} and Matt Kyte and Willem Blokland and Sangrey, {Robert L.} and Carroll, {Timothy M.} and Long, {Cary D.} and Hao Jiang and Riemer, {Bernard W.}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 The Author(s)",

year = "2022",

month = sep,

doi = "10.1016/j.matdes.2022.110937",

language = "English",

volume = "221",

journal = "Materials and Design",

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}

McClintock, DA , Liu, Y, Bruce, DR, Winder, DE, Schwartz, RG, Kyte, M, Blokland, W, Sangrey, RL, Carroll, TM, Long, CD, Jiang, H & Riemer, BW 2022, 'Small-bubble gas injection to mitigate cavitation-induced erosion damage and reduce strain in target vessels at the spallation neutron source', Materials and Design, vol. 221, 110937. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2022.110937

TY - JOUR

T1 - Small-bubble gas injection to mitigate cavitation-induced erosion damage and reduce strain in target vessels at the spallation neutron source

AU - McClintock, David A.

AU - Liu, Yun

AU - Bruce, Douglas R.

AU - Winder, Drew E.

AU - Schwartz, Richard G.

AU - Kyte, Matt

AU - Blokland, Willem

AU - Sangrey, Robert L.

AU - Carroll, Timothy M.

AU - Long, Cary D.

AU - Jiang, Hao

AU - Riemer, Bernard W.

PY - 2022/9

Y1 - 2022/9

N2 - The effectiveness of small-bubble gas injection to mitigate cavitation-induced erosion damage and decrease strain in Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) target vessels was characterized using photography, laser-line scanning, and in-situ vessel strain measurements. Observations from early targets showed that erosion damage caused appreciable mass loss along the target vessel inner wall. Later target designs incorporated a cavitation mitigation technique called small-bubble gas injection, in which small helium gas bubbles were introduced into the flowing mercury during operation. Samples removed from target vessels after operation revealed that gas injection greatly reduced or eliminated erosion damage. Photographs of the target interiors showed areas where significant erosion damage occurred in targets that were operated without gas injection. The same areas had no observable erosion damage in targets that were operated with gas injection. Laser-line scan measurements were performed on samples from several target vessels operated with and without gas injection to measure the extent of erosion damage and quantify the effect of gas injection on erosion. In-situ strain measurements during operation showed that gas injection reduced the target vessel strain by 25%–75%. These results provide conclusive confirmation that gas injection effectively mitigated erosion damage and reduced strain in SNS target vessels during operation.

AB - The effectiveness of small-bubble gas injection to mitigate cavitation-induced erosion damage and decrease strain in Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) target vessels was characterized using photography, laser-line scanning, and in-situ vessel strain measurements. Observations from early targets showed that erosion damage caused appreciable mass loss along the target vessel inner wall. Later target designs incorporated a cavitation mitigation technique called small-bubble gas injection, in which small helium gas bubbles were introduced into the flowing mercury during operation. Samples removed from target vessels after operation revealed that gas injection greatly reduced or eliminated erosion damage. Photographs of the target interiors showed areas where significant erosion damage occurred in targets that were operated without gas injection. The same areas had no observable erosion damage in targets that were operated with gas injection. Laser-line scan measurements were performed on samples from several target vessels operated with and without gas injection to measure the extent of erosion damage and quantify the effect of gas injection on erosion. In-situ strain measurements during operation showed that gas injection reduced the target vessel strain by 25%–75%. These results provide conclusive confirmation that gas injection effectively mitigated erosion damage and reduced strain in SNS target vessels during operation.

KW - Cavitation

KW - Erosion

KW - Gas injection

KW - Liquid metal

KW - Mercury

KW - Spallation

KW - Stainless steel

KW - Target

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ER -

Small-bubble gas injection to mitigate cavitation-induced erosion damage and reduce strain in target vessels at the spallation neutron source

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