Consumable arc-melting, extruding, and rolling process for iridium sheet
An iridium alloy has been used as cladding for the /sup 238/PuO/sub 2/ fuel in radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) for recent interplanetary spacecraft such as Voyagers 1 and 2 and will be used for the Galileo and Ulysses spacecraft. The iridium alloy sheet for the fuel cladding used on these missions was fabricated by hot and cold rolling of arc-melted and drop-cast 0.5-kg ingots. Upon completion of production for these spacecraft, an opportunity was taken to conduct process improvement studies that would increase processing batch sizes, develop a more uniform product, decrease rejections due to internal delaminations and surface defects, and reduce costs. The studies to scale up and improve the fabrication process are described. In the new process, iridium is electron beam melted, alloyed by arc melting, and then consumable arc melted to form a cylindrical ingot of approximately 7 kg for extrusion. The ingot is extruded to sheet bar and hot and cold rooled into sheet. Sheet evaluated from the first two ingots showed 100% acceptance with no defects on inspection. An improved uniformity of microstructure was obtained, and chemistry was controlled within specification limits.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-84OR21400
- OSTI ID:
- 5702073
- Report Number(s):
- ORNL-6270; ON: DE86013524
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Improvements in manufacture of iridium alloy materials
Improvements in manufacture of iridium alloy materials
Improvements in manufacture of iridium alloy materials
Conference
·
Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1992
·
OSTI ID:10165559
Improvements in manufacture of iridium alloy materials
Conference
·
Tue Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1991
·
OSTI ID:6967746
Improvements in manufacture of iridium alloy materials
Conference
·
Thu Jan 14 23:00:00 EST 1993
· AIP Conference Proceedings (American Institute of Physics); (United States)
·
OSTI ID:6801837
Related Subjects
07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES
070300 -- Isotopic Power Supplies
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360101* -- Metals & Alloys-- Preparation & Fabrication
ACTINIDE COMPOUNDS
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CHALCOGENIDES
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
ELEMENTS
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
EXTRUSION
FABRICATION
HEAVY NUCLEI
IRIDIUM
ISOTOPES
MATERIALS WORKING
MELTING
METALLOGRAPHY
METALS
MICROSTRUCTURE
NESDPS Office of Nuclear Energy Space and Defense Power Systems
NUCLEI
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
PLATINUM METALS
PLUTONIUM 238
PLUTONIUM COMPOUNDS
PLUTONIUM DIOXIDE
PLUTONIUM ISOTOPES
PLUTONIUM OXIDES
RADIOISOTOPE BATTERIES
RADIOISOTOPES
ROLLING
SHEETS
THERMOELECTRIC GENERATORS
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
TRANSURANIUM COMPOUNDS
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
070300 -- Isotopic Power Supplies
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360101* -- Metals & Alloys-- Preparation & Fabrication
ACTINIDE COMPOUNDS
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CHALCOGENIDES
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
ELEMENTS
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
EXTRUSION
FABRICATION
HEAVY NUCLEI
IRIDIUM
ISOTOPES
MATERIALS WORKING
MELTING
METALLOGRAPHY
METALS
MICROSTRUCTURE
NESDPS Office of Nuclear Energy Space and Defense Power Systems
NUCLEI
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
PLATINUM METALS
PLUTONIUM 238
PLUTONIUM COMPOUNDS
PLUTONIUM DIOXIDE
PLUTONIUM ISOTOPES
PLUTONIUM OXIDES
RADIOISOTOPE BATTERIES
RADIOISOTOPES
ROLLING
SHEETS
THERMOELECTRIC GENERATORS
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
TRANSURANIUM COMPOUNDS
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES