Short term creep rupture predictions for tantalum alloy T-111

Conference · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1991 · AIP Conference Proceedings (American Institute of Physics); (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.40029· OSTI ID:5814124

Stephens, J J ^[1]

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1. Division 1832 Sandia National Laboratories, P.O. Box 5800, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185-5800 (US)

A knowledge of the short term creep rupture behavior of Tantalum alloy T-111 is necessary to predict device integrity in the heat source section of Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs) at the end of service life, in the event of a fuel fire. High pressures exist in RTGs near the end of service life, these are caused by gas generation resulting from radioactive decay of the nuclear fuel. The internal pressure exerts a significant hoop stress on the T-111 alloy structural containment member. This paper analyses the short term creep behavior (rupture times up to {similar to}2{times}10{sup 3} hrs.) of cold worked (CW) T-111 alloy, using the existing data of Stephenson (1967). Corellations for the time to rupture, time to 1% strain and minimum creep rate have been obtained from this data using multivariable linear regression analysis. These results are compared to other short term rupture data for T-111 alloy. Finally, at the stress/temperature levels relevant to the RTG fuel fire scenario near the end of service life, the rupture time correlation for T-111 alloy predicts a rupture time of approximately 100 hrs.

• DOE Contract Number: AC04-76DP00789
• OSTI ID: 5814124
• Report Number(s): CONF-910116--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: AIP Conference Proceedings (American Institute of Physics); (USA) Journal Volume: 217:1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES
070300 -- Isotopic Power Supplies
070500 -- Isotope & Radiation Source Technology-- Health & Safety-- (1990-)
30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION
300302 -- Thermoelectric Generators-- Performance & Testing
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360103* -- Metals & Alloys-- Mechanical Properties
ALLOY-TA90W8HF
ALLOYS
CREEP
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
ENGINEERING
FAILURES
HAFNIUM ALLOYS
HEAT SOURCES
MATHEMATICS
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
NESDPS Office of Nuclear Energy Space and Defense Power Systems
RADIOISOTOPE HEAT SOURCES
REGRESSION ANALYSIS
RUPTURES
SAFETY ENGINEERING
SERVICE LIFE
STATISTICS
STRESS ANALYSIS
TANTALUM ALLOY-T111
TANTALUM ALLOYS
TANTALUM BASE ALLOYS
THERMOELECTRIC GENERATORS
TUNGSTEN ALLOYS