Abstract
Structural health monitoring of graphite components in high temperature, gas-cooled nuclear reactors is necessary to increase safety and extend reactor lifetime. Establishing structure-property relationships in nuclear graphite allows for a straightforward assessment of microstructural changes related to service-induced degradation, such as increased porosity and weight loss. In this work, laser ultrasonic measurements were made on IG-110 and NBG-18 nuclear graphites, oxidized to various degrees of weight loss, to assess changes in the elastic properties. Measurements show that higher densities yield higher longitudinal and shear stiffnesses in both graphites. Comparison with an ultrasonic wave propagation model as well as an investigation of ultrasonic correlation techniques indicate that porosity alone might not dictate material elastic properties.
| Original language | English |
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| Title of host publication | SAMPE Baltimore 2015 Conference and Exhibition |
| Publisher | Soc. for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781934551196 |
| State | Published - 2015 |
| Event | SAMPE Baltimore 2015 Conference and Exhibition - Baltimore, United States Duration: May 18 2015 → May 21 2015 |
Publication series
| Name | International SAMPE Technical Conference |
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| Volume | 2015-January |
Conference
| Conference | SAMPE Baltimore 2015 Conference and Exhibition |
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| Country/Territory | United States |
| City | Baltimore |
| Period | 05/18/15 → 05/21/15 |
Funding
The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) through the Nuclear Energy University Program (NEUP) Contract No. 00118687. Research at ORNL was performed collaboratively with Johns Hopkins University under the DOE Work for Others (WFO) Program.