NSUF 18-1495: TEM investigation of irradiation, irradiation creep and thermal annealing effects in nuclear graphite
The Advanced Graphite Creep-1 (AGC-1) program was developed to qualify six types (NBG-18, NBG-17, H-451, PCEA, IG110, IG-430) of graphite grades for their use in Gen IV nuclear reactor designs or to produce a reference database. The irradiation and creep conditions were performed at a similar range of temperatures and dose as a Gen IV graphite reactor core. The atomic-level and microstructure data of graphite under this irradiation conditions are scarce, limiting the understanding between the irradiation defects and bulk material properties. This research selected samples irradiated at different stages of irradiation and creep to understand the mechanisms that alter the microstructure and crystal lattice of graphite.
PCEA graphite samples will be used to determine the atomic-level structure, microstructural and irradiation defects of 7 samples. A unirradiated sample, 2 crept irradiated samples (4.36 and 5.66 dpa at a nominal temperature of 700°C) and 2 uncrept irradiated samples (3.9 and 5.02 dpa at a nominal temperature of 700°C) were selected for this study. SEM and TEM imaging will be used to characterize the different microstructures and types of defects found in each sample. Moreover, an in-situ annealing of the graphite specimens will be performed (1200°C) to understand the annealing effects on each specimen.
Additional Info
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Abstract | The Advanced Graphite Creep-1 (AGC-1) program was developed to qualify six types (NBG-18, NBG-17, H-451, PCEA, IG110, IG-430) of graphite grades for their use in Gen IV nuclear reactor designs or to produce a reference database. The irradiation and creep conditions were performed at a similar range of temperatures and dose as a Gen IV graphite reactor core. The atomic-level and microstructure data of graphite under this irradiation conditions are scarce, limiting the understanding between the irradiation defects and bulk material properties. This research selected samples irradiated at different stages of irradiation and creep to understand the mechanisms that alter the microstructure and crystal lattice of graphite. PCEA graphite samples will be used to determine the atomic-level structure, microstructural and irradiation defects of 7 samples. A unirradiated sample, 2 crept irradiated samples (4.36 and 5.66 dpa at a nominal temperature of 700°C) and 2 uncrept irradiated samples (3.9 and 5.02 dpa at a nominal temperature of 700°C) were selected for this study. SEM and TEM imaging will be used to characterize the different microstructures and types of defects found in each sample. Moreover, an in-situ annealing of the graphite specimens will be performed (1200°C) to understand the annealing effects on each specimen. |
| Award Announced Date | 2018-05-17T11:22:17.707 |
| Awarded Institution | None |
| Facility | None |
| Facility Tech Lead | Kory Linton |
| Irradiation Facility | None |
| PI | Timothy Burchell |
| PI Email | [email protected] |
| Project Type | RTE |
| RTE Number | 1495 |