High-pressure hydrogen testing of single crystal superalloys for advanced rocket engine turbopump turbine blades

A screening program to determine the effects of high pressure hydrogen on selected candidate materials for advanced single crystal turbine blade applications is examined. The alloys chosen for the investigation are CM SX-2, CM SX-4C, Rene N-4, and PWA1480. Testing is carried out in hydrogen and helium at 34 MPa and room temperature, with both notched and unnotched single crystal specimens. Results show a significant variation in susceptibility to Hydrogen Environment Embrittlement (HEE) among the four alloys and a marked difference in fracture topography between hydrogen and helium environment specimens

Status of Initial Assessment of Physical and Mechanical Properties of Graphite Grades for NGNP Appkications

Current candidate graphite grades for the core structures of NGNP include grades NBG-17, NBG-18, PCEA and IG-430. Both NBG-17 and NBG-18 are manufactured using pitch coke, and are vibrationally molded. These medium grain products are produced by SGL Carbon SAS (France). Tayo Tanso (Japan) produces IG-430 which is a petroleum coke, isostatically molded, nuclear grade graphite. And PCEA is a medium grain, extruded graphite produced by UCAR Carbon Co. (USA) from petroleum coke. An experimental program has been initiated to develop physical and mechanical properties data for these current candidate graphites. The results will be judged against the requirements for nuclear grade graphites set forth in ASTM standard D 7219-05 "Standard Specification for Isotropic and Near-isotropic Nuclear Graphites". Physical properties data including thermal conductivity and coefficient of thermal expansion, and mechanical properties data including tensile, compressive and flexural strengths will be obtained using the established test methods covered in D-7219 and ASTM C 781-02 "Standard Practice for Testing Graphite and Boronated Graphite Components for High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Nuclear Reactors". Various factors known to effect the properties of graphites will be investigated. These include specimen size, spatial location within a graphite billet, specimen orientation (ag and wg) within a billet, and billet-to-billet variations. The current status of the materials characterization program is reported herein. To date billets of the four graphite grades have been procured, and detailed cut up plans for obtaining the various specimens have been prepared. Particular attention has been given to the traceability of each specimen to its spatial location and orientation within a billet

Status of Initial Assessment of Physical and Mechanical Properties of Graphite Grades for NGNP Appkications

Current candidate graphite grades for the core structures of NGNP include grades NBG-17, NBG-18, PCEA and IG-430. Both NBG-17 and NBG-18 are manufactured using pitch coke, and are vibrationally molded. These medium grain products are produced by SGL Carbon SAS (France). Tayo Tanso (Japan) produces IG-430 which is a petroleum coke, isostatically molded, nuclear grade graphite. And PCEA is a medium grain, extruded graphite produced by UCAR Carbon Co. (USA) from petroleum coke. An experimental program has been initiated to develop physical and mechanical properties data for these current candidate graphites. The results will be judged against the requirements for nuclear grade graphites set forth in ASTM standard D 7219-05 "Standard Specification for Isotropic and Near-isotropic Nuclear Graphites". Physical properties data including thermal conductivity and coefficient of thermal expansion, and mechanical properties data including tensile, compressive and flexural strengths will be obtained using the established test methods covered in D-7219 and ASTM C 781-02 "Standard Practice for Testing Graphite and Boronated Graphite Components for High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Nuclear Reactors". Various factors known to effect the properties of graphites will be investigated. These include specimen size, spatial location within a graphite billet, specimen orientation (ag and wg) within a billet, and billet-to-billet variations. The current status of the materials characterization program is reported herein. To date billets of the four graphite grades have been procured, and detailed cut up plans for obtaining the various specimens have been prepared. Particular attention has been given to the traceability of each specimen to its spatial location and orientation within a billet

Development of metal-clad filled evacuated panel superinsulation

This Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) was between Aladdin Industries, Inc. and Lockheed Martin Energy Research Corp. The purpose of the CRADA was to determine the thermal performance of various metal claddings used to encapsulate Filled Evacuated Panel (FEP) superinsulation and to optimize the cost versus thermal performance of the claddings. A FEP superinsulation is a new type of superinsulation with the potential for saving large amounts of energy in buildings, building equipment, transportation (refrigerated railcars and trucks), industrial applications, etc. The major disadvantage of metal claddings for FEPs is the heat loss through the cladding caused by the high thermal conductivity of most metals. In smaller FEPs, this heat loss can degrade the overall performance of the FEP by factors of two or more as compared with polymer-clad FEPs. On the other hand, metal claddings are essentially impermeable to ambient air, whereas polymer claddings are not. Thus, the longevity and reliability of metal-clad FEPs are much superior to polymer-clad FEPs. In addition, because of the very low vapor pressure of metals as compared to polymers, metal-clad FEPs can achieve and operate at lower internal pressures. These lower pressures allow use of less expensive and/or higher performance filler materials

Interactions of Zircaloy cladding with gallium: 1998 midyear status

A program has been implemented to evaluate the effect of gallium in mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel derived from weapons-grade (WG) plutonium on Zircaloy cladding performance. The objective is to demonstrate that low levels of gallium will not compromise the performance of the MOX fuel system in a light-water reactor. The graded, four-phase experimental program was designed to evaluate the performance of prototypic Zircaloy cladding materials against (1) liquid gallium (Phase 1), (2) various concentrations of Ga{sub 2}O{sub 3} (Phase 2), (3) centrally heated surrogate fuel pellets with expected levels of gallium (Phase 3), and (4) centrally heated prototypic MOX fuel pellets (Phase 4). This status report describes the results of a series of tests for Phases 1 and 2. Three types of tests are being performed: (1) corrosion, (2) liquid metal embrittlement, and (3) corrosion-mechanical. These tests will determine corrosion mechanisms, thresholds for temperature and concentration of gallium that may delineate behavioral regimes, and changes in the mechanical properties of Zircaloy. Initial results have generally been favorable for the use of WG-MOX fuel. The MOX fuel cladding, Zircaloy, does react with gallium to form intermetallic compounds at {ge}300 C; however, this reaction is limited by the mass of gallium and is therefore not expected to be significant with a low level (parts per million) of gallium in the MOX fuel. Although continued migration of gallium into the initially formed intermetallic compound can result in large stresses that may lead to distortion, this was shown to be extremely unlikely because of the low mass of gallium or gallium oxide present and expected clad temperatures below 400 C. Furthermore, no evidence for grain boundary penetration by gallium has been observed

Behavior of Zircaloy Cladding in the Presence of Gallium

The U.S. Department of Energy has established a dual-track approach to the disposition of plutonium arising from the dismantling of nuclear weapons. Both immobilization and reactor-based mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel technologies are being evaluated. The reactor-based MOX fuel option requires assessment of the potential impact of concentrations of gallium (on the order of 1 to 10 ppm), not present in conventional MOX fuel, on cladding material performance. An experimental program was designed to evaluate the performance of prototypic Zircaloy cladding materials against (1) liquid gallium, and (2) various concentrations of G~03. Three types of tests were performed: (1) corrosion, (2) liquid metal embrittlement, and (3) corrosion-mechanical. These tests were to determine corrosion mechanisms, thresholds for temperature and concentration of gallium that delineate behavioral regimes, and changes in the mechanical properties of Zircaloy. Results have generally been favorable for the use of weapons-grade (WG) MOX fhel. The Zircaloy cladding does react with gallium to form intermetallic compounds at >3000 C; however, this reaction is limited by the mass of gallium and is therefore not expected to be significant with a low level (parts per million) of gallium in the MOX fuel. Furthermore, no evidence for grain boundary penetration by gallium or liquid metal embrittlement was observed

Muscle Hypertrophy in Prepubescent Tennis Players: A Segmentation MRI Study

PURPOSE: To asses if tennis at prepubertal age elicits the hypertrophy of dominant arm muscles. METHODS: The volume of the muscles of both arms was determined using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in 7 male prepubertal tennis players (TP) and 7 non-active control subjects (CG) (mean age 11.0 ± 0.8 years, Tanner 1-2). RESULTS: TP had 13% greater total muscle volume in the dominant than in the contralateral arm. The magnitude of inter-arm asymmetry was greater in TP than in CG (13 vs 3%, P<0.001). The dominant arm of TP was 16% greater than the dominant arm of CG (P<0.01), whilst non-dominant arms had similar total muscle volumes in both groups (P = 0.25), after accounting for height as covariate. In TP, dominant deltoid (11%), forearm supinator (55%) and forearm flexors (21%) and extensors (25%) were hypertrophied compared to the contralateral arm (P<0.05). In CG, the dominant supinator muscle was bigger than its contralateral homonimous (63%, P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Tennis at prepubertal age is associated with marked hypertrophy of the dominant arm, leading to a marked level of asymmetry (+13%), much greater than observed in non-active controls (+3%). Therefore, tennis particpation at prepubertal age is associated with increased muscle volumes in dominant compared to the non-dominant arm, likely due to selectively hypertrophy of the loaded muscles

Fatigue behavior of 2 1/4 Cr--1 Mo steel in support of steam generator development

Designers of high-temperature power generation plants, both nuclear and fossil-fired, have made extensive use of 2 1/4 Cr--1 Mo steel for piping, shell, and tubing and as a tubesheet material in steam generators. While this material has been researched as much if not more than any other boiler material, an understanding of the time-dependent fatigue behavior for long-term service applications is still incomplete. Progress is reported in obtaining formulations that can be used for low and high cycle continuous cycle fatigue, time-dependent fatigue, and crack growth behavior. Material variables such as melting practice, heat-to-heat, and heat treatment variations are discussed. The importance of environment is shown by comparing the results of elevated-temperature strain and load-controlled tests of different waveforms conducted in both air and helium. Interim progress is reported in characterizing the crack growth behavior of HAZs adjacent to dissimilar weld joints of this material

Study of the aerosol particle filtration efficiency of fabrics used to manufacture non-medical face masks in Lithuania

The global spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) proved to be a challenge for public health. The high demand of medical masks worldwide during the pandemic has led to a critical situation for decision-makers regarding high-quality mask supply. For this period, the World Health Organization has suggested the use of non-medical face masks (also known as ‘community’ masks) in public places to reduce the airborne spread of SARS-CoV-2. In this study, the filtration efficiency of various fabrics widely used in community masks was determined based on two main mask filtering properties: filtration efficiency (FE) and pressure drop (ΔP) according to the recommendations of the CEN Workshop Agreement (CWA) 17553:2020. The combination of FE and ΔP parameters must be considered in order to select suitable materials for public masks. The filtration efficiencies for various fabrics ranged from 6 to 100%. It was found that the composite materials have the highest FE equivalent to the requirements of a medical mask (FE &gt; 95%), that is confirmed by high-quality parameters 16–30 kPa–1. The study found that fabrics of natural fibres (100% cotton) have a higher FE with Ag coating (18–40% before and 29–40% after coating) in the 0.54–1.50 μm particle size range