About this Abstract |
Meeting |
2023 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
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Symposium
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Printed Electronics and Additive Manufacturing: Functional Materials, Processing Techniques, and Emerging Applications
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Presentation Title |
Printed High Temperature Irradiation Resistant Thermocouples for Real-time Monitoring of Nuclear Reactor Components |
Author(s) |
Josh Eixenberger, David Estrada, Katelyn Wada, Nicholas McKibben, Richard Fink |
On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Josh Eixenberger |
Abstract Scope |
Additive manufacturing (AM) of sensors that are capable of real-time monitoring nuclear reactor component’s thermal properties is crucial for furthering the advancement of existing and next generation nuclear reactors. Sensors employed to measure thermal properties in-pile must be able to withstand high temperatures and high neutron flux while maintaining long-term stability. Thermocouples fabricated using Niobium and Molybdenum have shown good resistance to this extreme environment but can be difficult to fabricate using traditional methods. AM approaches to fabricating these high temperature irradiation resistant thermocouples enables fast, high precision sensor fabrication and can be printed on conformal surfaces to monitor various structural components, minimizing intrusion and improve design flexibility. In this work, we developed Mo/Nb nanoparticle-based inks compatible with jetting printer technologies. We investigated sintering conditions, electrical properties, and report on the thermocouples performance at high temperatures. This work demonstrates the feasibility of this approach and enables extreme environment temperature detection. |
Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
Keywords |
Additive Manufacturing, High-Temperature Materials, Nanotechnology |