Fundamental considerations in fracture in nuclear materials

DOI: 10.1063/1.5044818

Authors: C. M. Cady (Los Alamos National Laboratory) , D. E. Eastwood (University of Manchester) , N. K. Bourne (University of Manchester) , C. Liu (Los Alamos National Laboratory) , R. Pei (University of Manchester) , P. Mummery (University of Manchester) , W. Bodel (University of Manchester) , J. Wade (University of Manchester) , R. Krishna (University of Manchester) , S. Cipiccia (Diamond Light Source; University of Strathclyde) , A, J, Bodey (Diamond Light Source) , K. Wanelik (Diamond Light Source) , C. Rau (Diamond Light Source)
Co-authored by industrial partner: No

Type: Conference Paper
Conference: Shock Compression of Condensed Matter - 2017
Peer Reviewed: No

State: Published (Approved)
Published: July 2018
Diamond Proposal Number(s): 14356

Abstract: The motivation of this work is to derive a means of monitoring the structural integrity of components used in nuclear power plants since there are a diverse range of materials, under variable loading, with a range of prior loading histories under complex environmental conditions. An experimental technique has been developed to characterize brittle materials which, using linear elastic fracture mechanics, has given accurate measurements of the global quantity fracture toughness. Here we extend this geometry to X-ray measurements in order to track the crack front as a function of loading parameters as well as to determine the crack surface area as loads increase. We have applied these advances to fracture in beryllium, to determine the onset of damage within the target as strain increases. Further, visualization of crack front advance and the correlated strain fields that are generated during the experiments, have allowed determination of the fracture surface generated as a function of load. This accurate tracking of the micromechanics controlling the energy balance in dynamic failure will provide a vital step in validating multiscale predictive modelling. By these means we aim to produce a micro-and mesoscale justification for macroscale concepts such as KIC.

Journal Keywords: Micromechanics; Fracture mechanics; Nuclear engineering; Nuclear fuel

Subject Areas: Materials, Engineering
Collaborations: Diamond Manchester

Instruments: I13-2-Diamond Manchester Imaging

Added On: 10/07/2018 14:10

Discipline Tags:

Materials Engineering & Processes Materials Science Engineering & Technology

Technical Tags:

Imaging Tomography