Published April 1982 | Version v1
Journal article

Crack propagation in irradiated B/sub 4/C induced by swelling and thermal gradients

  • 1. Hanford Eng Dev Lab, Richland, WA, USA

Description

Boron carbide is used in fast breeder reactors as the neutron absorber material. The irradiated pellets were observed to crack. Radial thermal gradients are produced as a result of internal heat generation. In larger-diameter pellets, these thermal expansion gradients are large and it was observed that pellet cracking occurred early in operation. It was also observed that swelling gradients were established at high burnup levels. These pellets were also cracked but in a different manner. 5 refs

Additional details

Additional titles

Augmented title (English)
LMFBR

Publishing Information

Journal Title
J. Am. Ceram. Soc.
Journal Volume
65
Journal Issue
4
Series
J. Am. Ceram. Soc.
Journal Page Range
179-181
ISSN
0002-7820