Review of the Development and Testing of a New Family of Boron and Gadolinium-Bearing Dual Thermal Neutron Absorbing Alloys - 13026
- Carpenter Tech., Corp., P.O. Box 14662, Reading PA 19612-4662 (United States)
- Carpenter Powder Products, 600 Mayer St., Bridgeville, PA 15017 (United States)
The development of a new class of Fe-based thermal neutron absorbing alloys (patent pending) containing both natural boron (B) and gadolinium (Gd) is reviewed. Testing has shown that Ar and N inert gas atomized powder metallurgy (PM) variants offer superior processability coupled with improved mechanical properties that exhibit reduced anisotropy and reduced corrosion rates compared to conventional cast/wrought processed material. PM processing results in a microstructure containing a uniform distribution of second phase borides and gadolinides, and the morphology of the gadolinides prevents the formation low melting point Gd-bearing phases at solidifying austenite boundaries. The new T316-based materials containing both B and Gd exhibit superior corrosion resistance compared to straight B-bearing T304 materials. By keeping the B content < 1 weight percent (%) and using Gd to attain an equivalent B (B{sub Eq}) content higher than that achievable through the use of B only, the new materials exhibit superior ductility, toughness and bendability as a result of significantly reduced area fraction of Cr-rich M{sub 2}B borides. Limiting the total area fraction of second phase particles to < 22% insures a product with superior bendability. By restricting B to < 1% and using Gd up to 2.5%, B{sub Eq} levels approaching 12% can be attained that provide a cost effective improvement in thermal neutron absorption capability compared to using B-10 enriched boron. The new materials can be easily bent during fabrication compared to existing metal matrix composite materials while offering similar thermal neutron absorption capability. Production lots containing B{sub Eq} levels of 4.0 and 7.5% (Micro-Melt{sup R} DuoSorb{sup TM} 316NU-40 and 75, respectively) are in the process of being fabricated for customer trial material. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- WM Symposia, 1628 E. Southern Avenue, Suite 9-332, Tempe, AZ 85282 (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 22224834
- Report Number(s):
- INIS-US-13-WM-13026; TRN: US14V0267045789
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: WM2013: Waste Management Conference: International collaboration and continuous improvement, Phoenix, AZ (United States), 24-28 Feb 2013; Other Information: Country of input: France; 10 refs.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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