Radiation damage on ceramics composites as structural materials

Recently, the concept of heat resistant ceramics as advanced structural materials has begun to be thought of as attractive, mostly due to their superior high temperature properties. As a result, R and D has been widely performed in the field of manufacturing process, material characterisation and so on. To apply the potentially attractive ceramics to the nuclear field, the basic oriented research on radiation damage of ceramic-based composites together with constituent reinforcing and matrix materials was proposed, and research began in 1997. Thermomechanical properties such as thermal expansion, thermal conductivity, Young's modulus, tensile and bending strength and so on are studied from a viewpoint of micro- and mesoscopic structural features. A preliminary experimental investigation has been carried out using the Japan Material Testing Reactor (JMTR) and the TANDEM accelerator to determine the effective irradiation condition in the HTTR. This paper summarizes the results of experimental and analytical studies that have been conducted up to now, focusing on the strength of ceramics. (authors)