Design of production test IP-423-A-FP evaluation of uranium fuel cores having virus heat treatments
Year: 1962
Type: report
Abstract: Fuel element warp occurring during the irradiation period is considered to be one of the major fuel element dimensional stability problems. Warp has been shown to correlate with accelerated corrosion attack. and also can contribute to stuck fuel charges, particularly in bumpered or self-supported charges where the annular clearances are reduced due to the presence of the projection rails. Thus, any process which offers a potential for reducing the average warp should be evaluated. Preliminary tests offsite have indicated that the use of a commercially available oil for a quench medium following beta heat treatment produces a fuel core with less residual stresses and a slightly finer and more uniform grain size than that produced by the present HAPO method of water quench. Thus, adoption of an oil quench nay offer a means whereby warp can be reduced without incurring costly revisions to equipment or fabrication processes. This report presents an irradiation testing program to evaluate the performance of oil quenched cores and to determine the optimum core heat treatment.
DOI: 10.2172/10147212
Language: English
Subfield: Materials Chemistry
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W201535229