Abstract
Programs at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are investigating the effects of neutron irradiation in the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) on properties of fine-grain nuclear graphites. Specimens were irradiated in the HFIR flux trap, which required using specimens that are smaller than the sizes recommended by ASTM standards. This work has investigated whether subsized specimens can be used to reliably determine the measured physical (density, elastic moduli, and electrical resistivity) and thermal properties (coefficient of thermal conductivity and thermal conductivity). The results show the specimen sizes in this investigation had a minimal influence on any of the measured properties. Even for the properties where size influenced the measured value (density and thermal conductivity), an explanation is provided, and the consequences can be accounted for in post-irradiation results. This work demonstrated that using subsized specimens for physical and thermal property measurements is suitable when necessary for fine-grain isotropic graphite.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 154269 |
| Journal | Journal of Nuclear Materials |
| Volume | 576 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 1 2023 |
Funding
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). This research was performed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and sponsored by Tokai Carbon Co. Ltd. under the Material Science and Technology Division, Work-for-Others (WFO) Program, IAN: 16B630901, and DOE agreement: NFE-09–02345, Toyo Tanso Co. Ltd. under the Material Science and Technology Division, Work-for-Others (WFO) Program, IAN: 16B654401, and DOE agreement: NFE-10–02974, IBIDEN Co. Ltd. under the Material Science and Technology Division, Work-for-Others (WFO) Program, IAN: 16B667001, and DOE agreement: NFE-11–03389, and Nippon Steel Chemical – Nippon Carbon Group (NSCC[sbnd]NCK Group) under the Material Science and Technology Division, Work-for-Others (WFO) Program, IAN: 16B680601, and DOE agreement: NFE-12–03865, all with the U.S. Department of Energy. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed by UT-Battelle, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05–00OR22725 for the U.S. Department of Energy. Thanks are necessary for the unparalleled work performed by Stephanie Curlin, Ashli Clark, Eric Manneschmidt, Michael McAlister, Daniel Lewis, and Brian Eckhart for their part in performing different portions of the measurements reported. Wallace Porter is also thanked for his effort in performing thermal diffusivity measurements and discussions related to the results for the thinnest specimens. Josina W. Geringer and Thomas R. Muth for their feedback on the manuscript. Finally, a special thanks is provided to Dr. Timothy D. Burchell for providing the data for NBG-18, PCEA, NBG-17, H451, and some IG-110 and IG-430 results from the DOE AGC-1 and HTV irradiation programs. This research was performed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and sponsored by Tokai Carbon Co. Ltd. under the Material Science and Technology Division , Work-for-Others (WFO) Program, IAN: 16B630901 , and DOE agreement: NFE-09–02345 , Toyo Tanso Co. Ltd. under the Material Science and Technology Division , Work-for-Others (WFO) Program, IAN: 16B654401 , and DOE agreement: NFE-10–02974 , IBIDEN Co. Ltd. under the Material Science and Technology Division , Work-for-Others (WFO) Program, IAN: 16B667001 , and DOE agreement: NFE-11–03389 , and Nippon Steel Chemical – Nippon Carbon Group (NSCC NCK Group) under the Material Science and Technology Division , Work-for-Others (WFO) Program, IAN: 16B680601 , and DOE agreement: NFE-12–03865 , all with the U.S. Department of Energy. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed by UT-Battelle , LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05–00OR22725 for the U.S. Department of Energy.