Mechanical tests of full-size Fort St. Vrain fuel blocks
A simple hydraulic pressure test of the webs in a Fort St. Vrain (FSV) fuel block shows that no catastrophic fracture occurs when the fuel holes are pressurized either individually or as a contiguous six-hole array. There is a small volume increase in the coolant hole common to the fuel holes being tested. Failure, as defined by a decrease in structural resistance to further hydraulic pressure, occurs at some pressure between 500 and 1320 psi in individually tested fuel holes, depending upon the condition of adjacent holes. When a FSV fuel block configuration consisting of a central fuel hole with six surrounding fuel and coolant holes is subjected to a uniaxial tensile or compressive load, internal hoop pressures up to the bursting strength of the material reduce the axial strength of the configuration by less than 13 percent.
- Research Organization:
- General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- E(04-3)-633
- OSTI ID:
- 7343947
- Report Number(s):
- GA-A-13917; TRN: 08-019340
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
VRAIN REACTOR
FRACTURE PROPERTIES
FUEL ELEMENTS
GRAPHITE
PRESSURE DEPENDENCE
REACTOR LATTICES
CARBON
ELEMENTS
ENRICHED URANIUM REACTORS
GAS COOLED REACTORS
GRAPHITE MODERATED REACTORS
HELIUM COOLED REACTORS
HTGR TYPE REACTORS
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
NONMETALS
POWER REACTORS
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTORS
210300* - Power Reactors
Nonbreeding
Graphite Moderated