NSUF 19-1636: Changes in mechanical and chemical-structural properties of gamma irradiated calcium silicate hydrates to an absorbed dose of 200 MGy with respect to pristine samples
The proposed project objectives are to study the changes in viscoelastic behavior, chemical structure and morphology of calcium silicate hydrates after a gamma dose of 200 MGy. Calcium silicate hydrates are considered the glue of cement and hence are important for the stability of the concrete bio-shield in nuclear power plants. The impact of high gamma doses on the viscoelastic properties of calcium silicate hydrates is not fully understood. Results from previous experiments with samples irradiated to 2.24 MGy indicate that there may be a creep reduction with gamma irradiation. The proposed experiment will be a first of its kind to study the impact of a high gamma dose (200 MGy) to inform models that predict the degradation of cement and concrete with irradiation. Since creep has been proven to delay the onset of irradiation damage, a reduction in creep will certainly impact the level of predicted damage. The outcome of the experiments is mainly the production of stress relaxation and creep curves after irradiation, accompanied by the study of chemical-structural properties to understand the factors that may drive the changes in viscous response, such as the loss of water from the interlayer and/or the precipitation of pseudomorphs. The chemical-structural changes will be studied with X-ray diffraction. Morphology and compositional changes will be examined with TEM. Viscoelastic properties will be obtained through stress relaxation and creep nanoindentation experiments. The main goal is to inform irradiation damage predictive models to support the license renewal of the light water reactor US fleet to 80 years of operation. The samples will be available at the end of January, and the experiments will be finished in 3 sessions of 5 days each during April, May and June.
Additional Info
| Mező | Érték |
|---|---|
| Awarded Institution | University of Illinois |
| Embargo End Date | 2024-05-09 |
| Facility Tech Lead | Kory Linton, Mukesh Bachhav |
| NSUF Call | FY 2019 RTE 1st Call |
| PI | Nishant Garg |
| Project Member | Ms. Elena Tajuelo Rodriguez, R&D Staff Member - Oak Ridge National Laboratory (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2152-0067) |
| Project Member | Prof. Nishant Garg, Assistant Professor - University of Illinois (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9292-8364) |
| Project Notes | Awarded on 02/08/2019 |
| Project Type | RTE |
| Publication | Examination of gamma irradiated C-S-H. Part I: Chemical-structural properties William Hunnicutt, Elena Tajuelo Rodriguez, Paramita Mondal, Yann Le Pape Journal of the American Ceramic Society None 2019-04-25 https://ceramics.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jace.16515 |
| Publication | Effect of gamma irradiation on creep properties of cement paste analogues Elena Tajuelo Rodriguez 19th International Conference on Environmental Degradation of Materials in Nuclear Power Systems – Water Reactors 2019-08-18 - 2019-08-22 |
| Publication | The effect of gamma irradiation on C-S-H Elena Tajuelo Rodriguez ICIC Virtual Workshop on Effects of gamma irradiation of cement systems 2020-11-20 - 2020-11-20 |
| Publication | What does irradiation do to concrete? Insights on effects at the paste and aggregate levels Elena Tajuelo Rodriguez EMI 2022-05-31 - 2022-06-03 |
| Publication | Irradiation impact in concrete: Gamma effects on cement paste constituents (calcium silicate hydrates) and neutron effects on minerals present in aggregates Elena Tajuelo Rodriguez Goldschmidt 2022-07-10 - 2022-07-16 |
| Publication | Ultra-high gamma irradiation of calcium silicate hydrates: Impact on mechanical properties, nanostructure, and atomic environments Elena Tajuelo Rodriguez Cement and Concrete Research 158 2022-05-28 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconres.2022.106855 |
| RTE Number | 1636 |