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 language | English |
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Title of host publication | Proceedings of 13th Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control and Human-Machine Interface Technologies, NPIC and HMIT 2023 |
Publisher | American Nuclear Society |
Pages | 1622-1631 |
Number of pages | 10 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9780894487910 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2023 |
Event | 13th Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control and Human-Machine Interface Technologies, NPIC and HMIT 2023 - Knoxville, United States Duration: Jul 15 2023 → Jul 20 2023 |
Publication series
Name | Proceedings of 13th Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control and Human-Machine Interface Technologies, NPIC and HMIT 2023 |
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Conference
Conference | 13th Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control and Human-Machine Interface Technologies, NPIC and HMIT 2023 |
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Country/Territory | United States |
City | Knoxville |
Period | 07/15/23 → 07/20/23 |
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