Measurement of Irradiation-Enhanced Creep in Nuclear Materials (eBook)

Front Cover 1
Measurement of Irradiation-Enhanced Creep in Nuclear Materials 4
Copyright Page 5
Table of Contents 10
INTRODUCTION/PREFACE 6
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS 7
Session I: Irradiation creep of ceramic nuclear fuels 12
CHAPTER 1. IRRADIATION INDUCED CREEP OF CERAMIC NUCLEAR FUELS 12
1. Introduction 12
2. Physical mechanisms for irradiation creep 13
3. Measuring methods 16
4. Experimental results 16
5. Importance of further experiments 18
References 19
CHAPTER 2. OXIDE FUEL IN-REACTOR CREEP - LMFBR DESIGN ASPECTS 20
1. Introduction 20
2. Review of fuel creep data 21
3. Steady-state operation 23
4. Transient overpower operation 24
5. Conclusions and recommendations 25
Acknowledgement 25
References 25
CHAPTER 3. INTERPRETING AND PREDICTING IRRADIATION CREEP BY FUEL ELEMENT MODELLING 27
1. Introduction 27
2. Theoretical predictions 28
3. Fuel element modelling calculations 31
4. Conclusions 32
Appendix: Summary of data used in the modelling calculations 33
References 34
CHAPTER 4. CREEP PROPERTIES OF OXIDE AND CARBIDE FUELS UNDER IRRADIATION 35
1. Introduction 36
2. Experimental techniques 36
3. Behaviour of UO2 under irradiation 39
4. Behaviour of UC 44
5. Discussion 45
Acknowledgements 46
References 46
CHAPTER 5. IN-PILE CREEP STUDY ON MIXED OXIDE (U, Pu)O2 48
1. Introduction 48
2. Description of the experiments 49
3. Experimental procedure 52
4. Results 53
5. Discussion 56
6. Conclusion 58
References 58
CHAPTER 6. IN-PILE MEASUREMENT OF FISSION ENHANCED CREEP AND SWELLING OF URANIUM NITRIDE 59
1. Introduction 59
2. Choice of parameters 60
3. Design of apparatus 60
4. Analytical work 62
5. Performance and measurements 64
6. Post irradiation examination 65
7. Discussion 66
Acknowledgement 70
References 71
CHAPTER 7. MEASUREMENT OF THE DIAMETRAL EVOLUTION OF A FUEL ELEMENT DURING ITS IRRADIATION. THE MEDINA SERVICE 72
1. Introduction 72
2. The MEDINA device 72
3. MEDINA experiment X4 74
4. Developments 74
CHAPTER 8. IRRADIATION DEVICES FOR THE STUDY OF CREEP AND SWELLING IN CERAMIC FUELS 76
1. Introduction 76
2. Brief description of the various irradiation devices 76
3. Description of the measurement principles 80
4. Experience to date 81
Reference 82
Session II: Irradiation creep of graphite 83
CHAPTER 9. RADIATION CREEP OF GRAPHITE. AN INTROE HJCTION 83
1. The problem 83
2. Experimental techniques 85
3. Data and observations 86
4. The mechanism of radiation creep in graphite 87
5. White areas on the map 88
References 89
CHAPTER 10. UKAEA REACTOR GROUP STUDIES OF IRRADIATION-INDUCED CREEP IN GRAPHITE 90
1. Introduction 90
2. Experimental details 90
3. Theoretical analyses 94
4. Discussion 96
Acknowledgments 96
References 96
CHAPTER 11. REVIEW OF A TEST PROGRAMME ON IRRADIATION CREEP OF GRAPHITES AND SYSTEMISATION OF RESULTS 97
1. Introduction 97
2. Constant stress creep experiments 98
3. Creep experiments under varying stress 101
References 106
CHAPTER 12. DESIGN, OPERATION, AND INITIAL RESULTS FROM A SERIES OF GRAPHITE CREEP IRRADIATION EXPERIMENTS 107
1. Introduction 108
2. Program objectives and design criteria 108
3. Design of the ORR facility and the 900°C creep capsule 109
4. Operation and initial results 116
5. Applications and future plans 116
Acknowledgments 116
References 117
CHAPTER 13. JOINT PROGRAMME OF UNIAXIAL CREEP MEASUREMENTS OF HTR COMPACTS AND MATRIX MATERIAL UNDER TENSILE LOAD AT 900°C 118
1. Introduction 119
2. Description of the irradiation device 119
3. Characteristics of the samples 121
4. Irradiation histories 121
5. Analysis of the results 124
6. Conclusions 125
References 126
CHAPTER 14. THE CREEP STRAIN LIMIT EXPERIMENT 127
1. Introduction 127
2. Description of the experiment [1] 128
3. Irradiation history 129
4. Post-irradiation examination [4,5] 131
5. Assessment of the fuel compacts stressing 138
Acknowledgements 141
References 141
CHAPTER 15. RELOADABLE GRAPHITE CREEP FACILITY FOR TENSILE OR COMPRESSIVE EXPERIMENTS 142
1. Introduction 143
2. General description of irradiation facility 143
3. Description of irradiation samples 146
4. Measuring jig for out of pile dimensional measurements 147
5. Automatic loading-unloading equipment for specimen can assemblies 148
6. Experimental operations 149
7. Results and discussion 151
References 152
CHAPTER 16. GRAPHITE HIGH TEMPERATURE CREEP RIGS 153
1. Purpose 153
2. "PIRITHOOS" type creep capsule 153
3. "FLACH" type creep capsule 156
4. Temperature regulating furnace 158
5. Equipment for the measurement of displacement 158
Reference 158
CHAPTER 17. UNI AXIAL TENSILE GRAPHITE CREEP CAPSULES WITH CONTINUOUS STRAIN REGISTRATION 159
1. Introduction 159
2. Summary of experiment parameters 160
3. Principle of operation 160
4. Capsule description project R 135 161
5. Project D 122. Capsule Description 162
6. Out of pile equipment 163
7. Capsule testing 163
8. Irradiation behaviour 166
Session III: Irradiation creep in non-fissile metals and alloys 168
CHAPTER 18. IRRADIATION CREEP IN NON-FISSILE METALS AND ALLOYS 168
1. Introduction 168
2. Irradiation induced strain processes 169
3. Irradiation creep measurement techniques 169
4. Irradiation creep of zirconium alloys 172
5. Irradiation creep in austenitic steels 176
6. Mechanisms of irradiation creep 180
7. Recommendations for further work 182
Acknowledgements 183
References 183
CHAPTER 19. VOID SWELLING AND IRRADIATION CREEP RELATIONSHIPS 185
1. Introduction 185
2. Swelling and irradiation creep interaction 185
3. Stress effects on swelling 190
4. Conclusions 192
Acknowledgement 193
References 193
CHAPTER 20. THE TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE OF IRRADIATION CREEP 195
1. Introduction 195
2. Rate theory for cold worked materials 196
3. Discussion 199
References 201
CHAPTER 21. REQUIREMENTS FOR IN-REACTOR ZIRCALOY CREEP MEASUREMENTS FOR APPLICATION IN THE DESIGN OF PWR FUEL 203
1. Introduction 203
2. Deformation of fuel rods 204
3. The CEPAN code 205
4. The anisotropic creep law 206
5. The effect of anisotropy on creep deformation of cladding 207
6. Discussion 208
7. Conclusions 209
Acknowledgements 210
References 210
CHAPTER 22. IRRADIATION ENHANCED CREEP IN LMFBR FUEL ELEMENT CLADDING 211
1. Introduction 211
2. The model 212
3. Conclusion 213
References 214
CHAPTER 23. DEPENDENCE OF IRRADIATION CREEP ON TEMPERATURE AND ATOM DISPLACEMENTS IN 20% COLD WORKED TYPE 316 STAINLESS STEEL 215
1. Introduction 215
2. Experimental details 215
3. Results 216
4. Discussion 218
5. Conclusions 220
Acknowledgement 220
References 220
CHAPTER 24. IN-REACTOR DEFORMATION OF SOLUTION ANNEALED TYPE 304L STAINLESS STEEL 221
1. Introduction 222
2. Experimental 222
3. Results 224
4. Discussion 232
5. Summary 234
Acknowledgments 234
References 234
CHAPTER 25. RESULTS OF IN-PILE CREEP MEASUREMENTS ON PRESSURIZED CAPSULES MADE OF STABILIZED STAINLESS STEELS WNr. 1.4981, CW AND WNr. 1.4970, CW, A 235
1. Introduction 235
2. Experimental methods 236
3. Results and discussion 238
4. Summary and conclusions 240
References 240
CHAPTER 26. IRRADIATION CREEP OF STAINLESS STEEL IN BENDING 241
1. Introduction 241
2. Test design description 241
3. Measurement technique 247
4. Test status 248
Acknowledgements 248
CHAPTER 27. IN-REACTOR STRESS RELAXATION IN BENDING OF 20% COLD-WORKED 316 STAINLESS STEEL 249
1. Introduction 249
2. Experiment design 249
3. Post-irradiation examination and results 250
4. Discussion 253
5. Conclusions 254
Acknowledgement 254
CHAPTER 28. IRRADIATION INDUCED CREEP EXPERIMENTS IN THE BR2 REACTOR USING THE RESONANT CAVITY METHOD 255
1. Description of the apparatus 255
2. Operational experience 257
3. Experimental results and discussion 257
Acknowledgements 260
References 260
CHAPTER 29. IRRADIATION CREEP IN Zr SINGLE CRYSTALS 261
1. Introduction 261
2. Experimental procedure and results 262
3. Discussion 266
4. Conclusions 268
Acknowledgement 268
References 268
CHAPTER 30. VOLUMETRIC CREEP IN NICKEL: THE INFLUENCE OF STRESS ON SWELLING 269
1. Introduction 269
2. Design of experiments 270
3. Construction of experiments 270
4. Results and discussion 271
5. Summary 276
Acknowledgement 276
References 276
CHAPTER 31. IRRADIATION CREEP DATA IN SUPPORT OF LMFBR CORE DESIGN 277
1. Introduction 278
2. Swelling 279
3. Irradiation creep 279
4. Conclusions 289
Acknowledgement 289
References 289
CHAPTER 32. THE IRRADIATION CREEP OF NICKEL AND AISI 321 STAINLESS STEEL DURING 4 MeV PROTON BOMBARDMENT 290
1. Introduction 291
2. Radiation damage regime 292
3. Irradiation creep apparatus 292
4. Specimen design and treatment 296
5. Results 296
6. Discussion 303
References 305
CHAPTER 33. ELECTRON INDUCED IRRADIATION CREEP AND DIRECT OBSERVATION OF THE UNDERLYING DISLOCATION PROCESSES INVOLVED 306
1. Introduction 306
2. Irradiation of creep measurements using the high voltage microscope purely as a source of displacement damage 307
3. Prediction of irradiation enhanced creep from experimental dislocation flux measurements 308
References 312
CHAPTER 34. DESIGN OF AN IRRADIATION DEVICE FOR THE DETERMINATION OF THE IN-PILE CREEP BEHAVIOUR OF ZIRCALOY CLADDING TUBES UNDER INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL OVERPRESSURE, IN FRG-2 313
1. General 313
2. Test rig 313
3. Results of the out-of-pile tests 316
4. Irradiation programme 317
CHAPTER 35. IN-PILE CREEP MEASURING RIGS FOR METALLIC SPECIMENS 318
1. Tensile creep test rigs 318
2. Diameter measuring devices 321
Appendix 321
CHAPTER 36. THE DOUNREAY FAST-REACTOR UNIAXIAL CREEP-MEASURING MACHINE 324
1. Introduction 324
2. Experimental 325
References 339
CHAPTER 37. ZIRCALOY-2 IRRADIATION CREEP STRAIN MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES 340
1. Introduction 340
2. Extension measuring devices 341
3. Conclusions 346
References 346
AUTHOR INDEX 347