Additively Manufactured Strain Sensing for Nuclear Reactor Applications

Conference · Sat Jul 15 00:00:00 EDT 2023

OSTI ID:1992085

Phero, Timothy Le ^[1]; Fujimoto, Kiyo T ^[1]; Khanolkar, Amey Rajendra ^[1]; McMurtrey, Michael D ^[1]; Johnson, Benjamin ^[2]; Estrada, David ^[2]; Jaques, Brian ^[2]; Novich, Kaelee ^[2]

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1. Idaho National Laboratory
2. Boise State University

Real-time monitoring of materials in harsh environments is a crucial technique towards reducing innovation time in nuclear systems. The successful measurement of real time, in-situ strain measurements during nuclear reactor operation requires innovative sensing solutions, including novel sensing strategies as well as advanced sensor design, manufacturing, and materials selection. In this paper, we will discuss two primary strategies for in-situ strain measurement strategies: additively manufactured (AM) capacitive strain gauges (CSGs) and digital image correlation (DIC). Current commercial strain gauges have limited applications in reactors due to the harsh operating conditions and non-trivial attachment strategies (i.e., welding, epoxy-adhesive) that can affect both the sensing performance and the underlying substrate under testing. AM CSGs are a viable solution as they have a low profile, low hysteresis, and wireless sensing integration capabilities that will enhance nuclear sensing technologies. In this work, the mechanical and thermal performance of the AM CSGs were tested up to 300 °C using ASTM standardized testing procedures to simulate the temperatures found in existing light water reactors. The AM CSGs had a similar performance across multiple samples which correlates to analytical models. This work leads towards the development of CSGs designed for higher temperatures and additional environmental factors found in Generation-IV reactors. Non-contact sensors, such as DIC, offer a less destructive way to measure deformation of materials when compared to alternative methods of in-situ strain determination, such as weldable strain gauges. However, DIC requires high contrast surfaces, which often relies on the implementation of artificial patterns. Using traditional splatter techniques to fabricate these patterns have limitations, including poor surface adhesion and reproducibility. In this work, AM fabrication techniques were implemented to avoid such limitations. Accordingly, aerosol jet printing (AJP) was used to print small scale periodic patterns of silver on stainless steel and aluminum tensile specimens. DIC was employed to monitor strain (up to 1100 µe) during temperature cycling from 23-600 °C. The results validated the use of AJP to better control pattern parameters for small fields of view applications at high temperatures.

• Research Organization: Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: 58
• DOE Contract Number: AC07-05ID14517
• OSTI ID: 1992085
• Report Number(s): INL/CON-23-72763-Rev000
• Conference Information: American Nuclear Society's 13th Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control & Human-Machine Interface Technologies, Knoxville, Tennesee, 07/15/2023 - 07/20/2023
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
additive manufacturing
digital image correlation
sensing
strain