TRITIUM RESERVOIR STRUCTURAL PERFORMANCE PREDICTION

The burst test is used to assess the material performance of tritium reservoirs in the surveillance program in which reservoirs have been in service for extended periods of time. A materials system model and finite element procedure were developed under a Savannah River Site Plant-Directed Research and Development (PDRD) program to predict the structural response under a full range of loading and aged material conditions of the reservoir. The results show that the predicted burst pressure and volume ductility are in good agreement with the actual burst test results for the unexposed units. The material tensile properties used in the calculations were obtained from a curved tensile specimen harvested from a companion reservoir by Electric Discharge Machining (EDM). In the absence of exposed and aged material tensile data, literature data were used for demonstrating the methodology in terms of the helium-3 concentration in the metal and the depth of penetration in the reservoir sidewall. It can be shown that the volume ductility decreases significantly with the presence of tritium and its decay product, helium-3, in the metal, as was observed in the laboratory-controlled burst tests. The model and analytical procedure provides a predictive tool for reservoir structural integrity under aging conditions. It is recommended that benchmark tests and analysis for aged materials be performed. The methodology can be augmented to predict performance for reservoir with flaws