Ultrasonic Assessment of Neutron Irradiated Concrete-Forming Aggregates

Hongbin Sun, Elena Tajuelo Rodriguez, José Arregui Mena, Yann Le Pape, Thomas M. Rosseel

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

Abstract

Concrete is a major construction material in multiple components of nuclear power plants (NPPs), and the degradation of concrete caused by radiation may hinder the extension of their operation license renewal. The irradiation effect on concrete properties has been studied in many works in the past fifty years. However, the effect of irradiation on aggregate properties has not been explored for some types of rocks, such as igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks are poorly characterized under irradiation. In this work, ultrasonic nondestructive testing technique was used to assess the mechanical properties of three types of aggregates—felsic sandstone, altered tuff, and limestone—after exposure to fast neutron fluences (E > 0.1 MeV). Each type of aggregate includes one pristine specimen as the reference and four irradiated specimens at four different neutron fluences up to 8.25 × 1019 n/cm2. All specimens were tested using the ultrasonic testing system with 2.25 MHz transducers in both longitudinal and shear wave modes. Wave velocities were extracted from the ultrasonic signals. With the measured apparent densities, Young's modulus, shear modulus, and Poisson's ratio were calculated based on the wave velocities, and uncertainties were analyzed. The results showed a descending modulus and ascending Poisson's ratio as the fluence increased for both sandstone and altered tuff specimens. The Young's modulus dropped to 30% of the pristine specimen modulus at the highest fluence, whereas the limestone exhibited a higher neutron resistance and remained at 89% of its original modulus. The limestone specimen has a higher content of calcite, which would not expand significantly at these neutron fluences. The sandstone and altered tuff specimens have more quartz and silicate minerals, which expands at different rates due to neutron irradiation. A hardening effect on the ultrasonic wave velocities and modulus was observed by comparing the specimens irradiated at 7 × 1018 n/cm2 and 1.28

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of 13th Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control and Human-Machine Interface Technologies, NPIC and HMIT 2023
PublisherAmerican Nuclear Society
Pages1622-1631
Number of pages10
ISBN (Electronic)9780894487910
DOIs
StatePublished - 2023
Event13th Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control and Human-Machine Interface Technologies, NPIC and HMIT 2023 - Knoxville, United States
Duration: Jul 15 2023Jul 20 2023

Publication series

NameProceedings of 13th Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control and Human-Machine Interface Technologies, NPIC and HMIT 2023

Conference

Conference13th Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control and Human-Machine Interface Technologies, NPIC and HMIT 2023
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityKnoxville
Period07/15/2307/20/23

Funding

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 (http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan).

Keywords

  • Concrete aggregate
  • Mechanical properties
  • Neutron irradiation
  • Ultrasonic testing

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