Hostname: page-component-76d6cb85b7-ntvhh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-07-26T23:00:41.522Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Neutron irradiation scoping study of twenty-five copper-base materials

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2011

O. K. Harling ,
N. J. Grant ,
G. Kohse ,
M. Ames ,
T-S Lee  and
L. W. Hobbs
O. K. Harling
Affiliation:
Nuclear Reactor Laboratory and Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 138 Albany Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
N. J. Grant
Affiliation:
Nuclear Reactor Laboratory and Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 138 Albany Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
G. Kohse
Affiliation:
Nuclear Reactor Laboratory and Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 138 Albany Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
M. Ames
Affiliation:
Nuclear Reactor Laboratory and Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 138 Albany Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
T-S Lee
Affiliation:
Nuclear Reactor Laboratory and Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 138 Albany Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
L. W. Hobbs
Affiliation:
Nuclear Reactor Laboratory and Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 138 Albany Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
Get access

Abstract

A scoping irradiation test was carried out to help define the performance of copper-base materials in potential fusion applications. Twenty-five different copper materials including oxide dispersion-stabilized and precipitation-hardened powder metallurgy alloys, as well as pure copper and solid solution-strengthened ingot alloys, were neutron irradiated to 13.5 dpa at 400°C in the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) fast reactor. Volumetric swelling and electrical conductivity data were measured for all irradiated materials, and four selected materials were characterized for mechanical property changes using a miniaturized disk bend test. A number of these copper alloys, especially those prepared by powder metallurgy techniques, showed low swelling (less than 0.3%), small changes in conductivity (less than ± 5%), and relatively small changes in yield strength with good post-irradiation ductility. Preliminary electron microscopy results show microstructural changes that are consistent with the results of the macroscopic studies. The pure copper materials showed significant changes in conductivity and high levels of swelling as a result of the neutron exposure. It is apparent that a variety of copper alloys can survive fast neutron exposures to at least 13.5 dpa at 400°C without unacceptable changes in density, conductivity, or yield strength. Further irradiation testing to much higher doses and experimental investigation of the effect of transmutation product gases are needed to fully define the response of available copper alloys to fusion reactor environments.

Information

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 2 , Issue 5 , October 1987 , pp. 568 - 579
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

REFERENCES

1Harling, O. K., Yu, G. P., Grant, N. J., and Meyer, J. E., J. Nucl. Mater. 103 & 104, 127 (1981).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2Caruvana, A., Day, W. H., Cincotta, G. A., and Rose, R. S., American Society of Mechanical Engineers Paper No. 79-GT-39, 1979.Google Scholar
3Kelley, W. K., Dini, J. W., and Logan, C. M., Plating Finishing 16, 54 (1982).Google Scholar
4Preston, O. and Grant, N. J., Trans. AIME 221, 164 (1961).Google Scholar
5Schilling, W. F. and Grant, N. J., Metall. Trans. 1, 2205 (1970).Google Scholar
6Swisher, J. H. and Fuchs, E. O., J. Inst. Met. 98, 129 (1970).Google Scholar
7Wood, S., Adamonis, D., Guha, A., Soffa, W. A., and Meier, G. H., Metall. Trans. A6, 1973 (1975).Google Scholar
8Laughlin, D. E. and Cahn, J. W., Acta. Metall. 23, 329 (1975).Google Scholar
9Materials and Processing Data book 1981, Met. Prog. 120, 73 (1981).Google Scholar
10Lee, A. K. and Grant, N. J., Mater. Sci. Eng. 60, 213 (1983).Google Scholar
11Maeda, R. and Ishibe, H., J. Jpn. Inst. Met. 29, 177 (1965).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12Lou, M. Y-W., Ph.D. thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1984.Google Scholar
13Swisher, J. H. and Fuchs, E. O., Trans. AIME 245, 1789 (1979).Google Scholar
14Dalai, H. and Grant, N. J., Metall. Trans. 4, 381 (1973).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15Smith, C. H. and Grant, N. J., Rapid Solidification Processing: Principles and Technology, III, edited by Meharabian, B. (National Bureau of Standards, Washington, D.C., 1983), p. 215.Google Scholar
16Smits, F. M., Bell Sys. Tech. J. 37, 711 (1985).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17Frost, H. M. and Kennedy, J. C., J. Nucl. Mater. 141–143, 169 (1986).Google Scholar
18Brager, H. R., Heinisch, H. L., and Garner, F. A., J. Nucl. Mater. 133&134, 676 (1985).Google Scholar
19Glowinski, L. D., Lanore, J. M., Fiche, C., and Adda, Y., J. Nucl. Mater. 61, 41 (1976).Google Scholar
20Livak, R. J., Frost, H. M., Zocco, T. G., Kennedy, J. C., and Hobbs, L. W., J. Nucl. Mater. 141–143, 160 (1986).Google Scholar
21Hudson, J. A., Mazey, D. J., and Nelson, R. S., Voids Formed by Irradiation of Reactor Materials (Reading, U. K., 1971).Google Scholar
22Sohn, D-S., Ph.D. thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1984.Google Scholar
23Harling, O. K., Lee, M., Sohn, D-S., Kohse, G., and Lau, C. W., ASTM Spec. Tech. Publ. 888, 50 (1986).Google Scholar
24Zinkle, S. J. and Knoll, R. W., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1984, Report No. UWFDM-578.Google Scholar
25Zinkle, S. J., Ph.D. thesis, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1985.Google Scholar
26Spitznagel, J. A. and Davis, J. W., Nucl. Instrum. Methods B 16, 279 (1986).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
27Livak, R. J., Zocco, T. J., and Hobbs, L. W., J. Nucl. Mater. 144, 121 (1987).Google Scholar
28Zinkle, S. J., Kulcinski, G. L., and Knoll, R. W., J. Nucl. Mater. 138, 46 (1986).Google Scholar