Degradation of Nylon 6,6 Fire-Suppression Casing from Plutonium Glove Boxes Under Alpha and Neutron Irradiation
- Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Nylon 6,6 tensile specimens, conforming to the casing for self-contained fire extinguisher systems, have been irradiated using both an accelerator He++ ion beam and a 5-Ci PuBe neutron source to model the radiation damage these systems would likely incur over a lifetime of operation within glove boxes. Following irradiation, these samples were mechanically tested using standard practices as described in ASTM D638. The results of the He++ study indicate that the tensile strength of the nylon specimens undergoes some slight (<10%) degradation while other properties of the samples, such as elongation and tangent modulus, appear to fluctuate with increasing dose levels. The He++-irradiated specimens also have a noticeable level of discoloration corresponding to increasing levels of dose. The neutron-irradiated samples show a higher degree of mechanical degradation than the He++-irradiated samples.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC52-06NA25396
- OSTI ID:
- 1235660
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-12-26151
- Journal Information:
- Nuclear Technology, Vol. 191, Issue 1; ISSN 0029-5450
- Publisher:
- American Nuclear Society (ANS)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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