A Physical Metallurgical Study of Thorium-Rich, Thorium-Uranium Alloys

Technical Report · Wed Jan 15 04:00:00 EST 1958

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/4336408· OSTI ID:4336408

Bentle, Gordon G. ^[1]

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1. North American Aviation, Inc., Canoga Park, CA (United States). Atomics International Div.

Physical property measurements and metallography were performed on thorium-rich, thorium-uranium alloys containing up to 20 w/o uranium. Tensile tests at 500° C indicate that when commercial-grade thorium is alloyed with uranium the ultimate and yield strengths are increased approximately 50 per cent. Hardness data at room temperature are also presented. Photomicrographs indicate that the uranium is dispersed uniformly as fine particles in arc-melted alloys. These fine particles coalesce when the material is annealed; some of the particles coalesce at the grain boundaries. Alloys containing up to five w/o uranium appear to retain very few of the particles which coalesce along the grain boundaries; most of the particles appear in the matrix. The thorium-rich end of the thorium-uranium phase diagram is presented; it is based on electrical resistivity and lattice-parameter measurements. The variation of thermal conductivity with temperature, up to 1100° C, in thorium alloys is calculated and the resultant data are tabulated.

• Research Organization: North American Aviation, Inc., Canoga Park, CA (United States). Atomics International Div.
• Sponsoring Organization: US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)
• DOE Contract Number: AT(11-1)-GEN-8
• NSA Number: NSA-12-004830
• OSTI ID: 4336408
• Report Number(s): NAA-SR--2069
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ANNEALING
DISPERSIONS
ELECTRIC ARCS
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
GRAIN BOUNDARIES
HARDNESS
HIGH TEMPERATURE
LATTICES
MATERIALS TESTING
MEASURED VALUES
MELTING
METALLOGRAPHY
METALLURGY
PARTICLES
PHASE DIAGRAMS
PHOTOGRAPHIC FILM
TEMPERATURE
TENSILE PROPERTIES
THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY
THORIUM ALLOYS
URANIUM ALLOYS
VARIATIONS