About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
Materials in Nuclear Energy Systems (MiNES) 2025
|
| Symposium
|
Materials in Nuclear Energy Systems (MiNES) 2025
|
| Presentation Title |
Advanced Experimental Setup for Simulating Creep-Fatigue in Nuclear Reactor Environments Using Ion Irradiations |
| Author(s) |
Wyatt Steven Lowell Peterson, Mackenzie Warwick, Charlie Hirst, Kevin Field |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Wyatt Steven Lowell Peterson |
| Abstract Scope |
The extreme environment of advanced nuclear reactor designs exposes structural materials to high doses (>25 displacements per atom), high temperatures (>300°C), and mechanical stresses (>100 MPa). In addition, cyclic stress behavior has been observed, either in high applied stress or periods of relaxation and low stress. To emulate these high-stress periods, the Newtec Scientific MT-1000 micro-tensile tester (MT-1000) is currently being deployed as a part of a novel experimental configuration for ion irradiation testing at the Michigan Ion Beam Laboratory. An updated vacuum chamber and support structure houses the MT-1000 and all the required peripherals for an in-situ ion irradiation creep-fatigue experiment. The update design includes high design flexibility, including interchangeable specimen supports allowing unique creep and creep-fatigue specimen geometries and grip-based heating providing differential thermal applications under load. Machine vision cameras collect strain measurements using digital image correlation (DIC). The DIC system has been preliminarily validated via tensile tests on the MT-1000 using precipitate-treated A709 stainless steel samples. The new experimental setup will allow for conditions of room temperature to 950°C, with static or cyclic forces ranging from 0 to 2.5 kN, while irradiating ion-thin specimens with 3 MeV protons. This setup will enable the acceleration of experiments measuring life-limiting factors in reactor environments. This work outlines the overall design and highlights the specialized ion-thin specimen geometries developed for ion irradiation testing under static and cyclic loads. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Undecided |