NSUF 24-4969: Examination of irradiation effects on printed strain gauges

Real time strain monitoring during radiation experiments is critical for many fuels and structural materials experiments. This is usually accomplished using Linear Variable Differential Transformers (LVDTs), which have been successfully deployed in materials test reactors in the past. LVDTs, however, are large and invasive for design integration, and not always practical for in-pile experiments. They work best for single specimen experiments and for axial (non-circumferential) deformation. This work will demonstrate the use of printed strain gauges for irradiation experiments, which overcome many of the weakness of LVDTs. The printed strain gauges, however, have not been demonstrate in a radiation environment, and should not be used for material irradiation experiments until the sensor has been demonstrated to provide reliable data under irradiation. This proposal seeks to irradiate pre-stressed aluminum-6061 substrates with printed strain gauges for ten days at The Ohio State University Research Reactor to demonstrate the utility and reliability of the sensor for irradiation experiments to validate its use for future irradiation experiments.

Zusätzliche Informationen

Feld	Wert
Awarded Institution	Idaho National Laboratory
Embargo End Date	2026-07-09
Facility Tech Lead	Raymond Cao
Irradiation Facilities	Ohio State University Research Reactor
NSUF Call	FY 2024 RTE 2nd Call
PI	Amey Khanolkar
Project Member	Mr. Michael McMurtrey, Materials Scientist - Idaho National Laboratory (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7835-2888)
Project Member	Yanliang Zhang - University of Notre Dame
Project Member	Dr. Amey Khanolkar, Applied Physicist - Idaho National Laboratory (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0816-5507)
Project Type	RTE