Evaluating alternate test techniques to characterize mechanical properties in nuclear-grade graphites - 18421
The deployment of graphite as a core structural material in the very high temperature reactor (VHTR) design presents a number of challenges with regard to accurate property and performance assessments. In the United States Advanced Reactor Technologies (ART) program, candidate VHTR graphite grades are being evaluated not only with respect to irradiated property values, but also with a focus on comprehensive data sets that explicate the property variability inherent to nuclear-grade graphites. The large data sets being compiled on baseline physical and mechanical properties provide a means not only to quantify variability within and between major graphite grades, but alsomore »