Structural materials for fuel rod cladding and reactor components

Title

Structural materials for fuel rod cladding and reactor components

Prerequisites

fundamentals of materials science

Goal of the course

analysis and evaluation of neutron-irradiated structural materials

Content

Lecture part (approximately 50%)

• requirements on neutronically highly stressed structural material for light- and pressurized water reactors
• selection of materials
• physical, mechanical and microstructural properties
• interaction of energetic neutrons with condensed matter: basics of the irradiation damage, calculation of displacement damage ("dpa")
• typical mechanical and microstructural property changes of austenitic and feritic steels (martensitic) under neutron irradiation
• international material development: trends

Practical part (50%)

• standardized evaluation of
  (i) tensile tests,
  (ii) fatigue tests,
  (iii) creep tests and
  (iv) notched bar impact tests on non-irradiated samples
• practical analysis of scanning electron microscopy and optical microscopy including
  (i) fractography,
  (ii) structure and micro-cracks
  (iii) item analysis with EDX (energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy)
• transmission electron microscopy on irradiated samples
• hot cells:
  (i) hands-on manipulator training
  (ii) sample preparation and manipulation
  (iii) quantitative metallography: OM, SEM, TEM
  (iv) mechanical testing of neutron-irradiated steel samples

Lecturer

Dr. A. Möslang, IAM; Dr. H.Ch. Schneider, FML, KIT CN

Schedule; 4 days

2019; 9 am to 5 pm daily

Location

KIT Campus North, Institut für Materialforschung,
Gebäude 681 (Seminarraum) und 701 (Heiße Zellen),
Hermann-von-Helmholtzplatz 1, D-76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen