ALUMINUM SHEATHING OF FLAT URANIUM PLATES BY EXTRUSION CLADDING

Technical Report · Fri Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1957

OSTI ID:4345272

Mooradian, A J

The aluminum sheathing of long flat U metal fuel elements by means of extrusion cladding was developed to the point of trial production. The process consists of using the U flat as a moving mandrel over which the sheath is extruded directly, thereby completely encasing the U with Al as it passes through the die. Although the sheath may be extruded directly to size, for production reasons it is found to be preferable to extrude the sheath oversized (0.254 cm. thick) and machine it to the required thickness (0.063 cm.) as a second operation. Bonding of the sheath to the core may be achieved in the course of extrusion. The bond is stronger and more uniform in the case of a U plate which has been Ni plated than in the case of bare U. However, in both cases the sheath is found to be in good sonic contact with the core. Both Ni plated and bare U flat elements sheathed in Al by the extrusion cladding method have been successfully tested under irradiation. There was no evidence of poor thermal transmission through the U--Al interface under the test condition of 47 watts/cm/sup 2/. The method has been developed for cladding all three sizes of flat plates used in making up the fuel rods for N.R.U. (auth)

• Research Organization: Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. Chalk River Project, Chalk River, Ontario (Canada)
• NSA Number: NSA-12-002495
• OSTI ID: 4345272
• Report Number(s): CRL-46; AECL-513
• Country of Publication: Canada
• Language: English

Related Subjects

ALUMINUM
BONDING
CANNING
EXTRUSION
FABRICATION
FUEL CANS
FUEL ELEMENTS
HEAT TRANSFER
IRRADIATION
MACHINING
NICKEL
NRU
PHYSICS
PLATES
PLATING
REACTORS
TESTING
URANIUM