An Introduction to Nuclear Materials E-Book

K. Linga Murty

• Herausgeber: Wiley-VCH
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 565

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

Covering both fundamental and advanced aspects in an accessible way, this textbook begins with an overview of nuclear reactor systems, helping readers to familiarize themselves with the varied designs. Then the readers are introduced to different possibilities for materials applications in the various sections of nuclear energy systems. Materials selection and life prediction methodologies for nuclear reactors are also presented in relation to creep, corrosion and other degradation mechanisms. An appendix compiles useful property data relevant for nuclear reactor applications.

Throughout the book, there is a thorough coverage of various materials science principles, such as physical and mechanical metallurgy, defects and diffusion and radiation effects on materials, with serious efforts made to establish structure-property correlations wherever possible. With its emphasis on the latest developments and outstanding problems in the field, this is both a valuable introduction and a ready reference for beginners and experienced practitioners alike.

Leseprobe

Contents

Cover

Related Titles

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Preface

Chapter 1: Overview of Nuclear Reactor Systems and Fundamentals

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Types of Nuclear Energy

1.3 Neutron Classification

1.4 Neutron Sources

1.5 Interactions of Neutrons with Matter

1.6 Definition of Neutron Flux and Fluence

1.7 Neutron Cross Section

1.8 Types of Reactors

1.9 Materials Selection Criteria

1.10 Summary

Appendix 1.A

Additional Reading Materials

Chapter 2: Fundamental Nature of Materials

2.1 Crystal Structure

2.2 Crystal Defects

2.3 Diffusion

Bibliography

Chapter 3: Fundamentals of Radiation Damage

3.1 Displacement Threshold

3.2 Radiation Damage Models

3.3 Summary

Bibliography and Suggestions for Further Reading

Additional Reading

Chapter 4: Dislocation Theory

4.1 Deformation by Slip in Single Crystals

4.2 Other Dislocation Characteristics

4.3 Dislocations in Different Crystal Structures

4.4 Strengthening (Hardening) Mechanisms

4.5 Summary

Bibliography

Additional Reading

Chapter 5: Properties of Materials

5.1 Mechanical Properties

5.2 Thermophysical Properties

5.3 Corrosion

Appendix 5.A

Appendix 5.B

Bibliography and Suggestions for Further Reading

Additional Reading

Chapter 6: Radiation Effects on Materials

6.1 Microstructural Changes

6.2 Mechanical Properties

6.3 Radiation Effects on Physical Properties

6.4 Radiation Effects on Corrosion Properties

6.5 Summary

Bibliography

Chapter 7: Nuclear Fuels

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Metallic Fuels

7.3 Ceramic Fuels

7.4 Summary

Bibliography

Additional Reading

Appendix A: Stress and Strain Tensors

Appendix B

Index

Related Titles

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© 2013 Wiley-VCH Verlag & Co. KGaA, Boschstr. 12, 69469 Weinheim, Germany

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Print ISBN: 978-3-527-41201-3

Cover Design Adam-Design, Weinheim

Typesetting Thomson Digital, Noida, India

To our families

Preface

This textbook was first conceived from our observation that there had been no suitable textbook that caters towards the needs of undergraduate students in nuclear engineering for learning about nuclear reactor materials from materials science perspective. We have come across some books which are heavy on the ‘nitty gritty’ details that assume significant prior knowledge of basics of materials science, whereas others miss to highlight important materials science principles for students' perspective to grow into the field of nuclear materials. Moreover, most of them are out-of-print. Thus, the book has primarily been written for undergraduate students; however it can also be used by beginning graduate students and professionals who are interested in learning about nuclear materials from a rudimentary level but have very little background in materials science. We also hope that materials science and engineering (MSE) students will take delight into learning the topics if they wish to enter the nuclear materials field even though they may be quite conversed with the contents of some of the chapters involving materials science fundamentals.

Instructors who teach nuclear materials always have a difficult task of teaching the fundamentals of nuclear materials. Origin of the contents of the book has roots in the course on Nuclear Materials taught during more than three decades by the senior author (KLM) at NC State and recent teaching by the co-author (IC) at the University of Idaho. Copies taken of various chapters from different books have been used as course notes with various references that the students found not very convenient especially since only a few copies are available in the library. In addition, they were found to be disjointed especially in the varied nomenclatures used by different authors.

It has been our experience that many of the nuclear engineering students find that it is required to repeat basic materials science aspects including crystal structures especially because hcp and fluorite structures are not well covered in the first course on Elements of Materials Science. Along with all basic phenomena of materials science, the book deals with dislocation theory in more detail because of the significance of dislocations in the understanding of radiation damage and radiation effects. During the class teaching, we emphasize from the very beginning the significance of these fundamental materials science principles in our ability to be able to predict/estimate effects of radiation using detailed quantitative microstructural features.

Following an introductory chapter on Nuclear Reactor Systems and Fundamentals, Chapter 2 starts with Crystal Structure followed by Crystal Imperfections (2.2) and Diffusion in Solids (2.3). Radiation Damage fundamentals are covered in Chapter 3 with the major aim of dpa (displacements per atom) calculation. Dislocation Theory comprises the Chapter 4 while Mechanical Properties, Fracture, Fatigue, Creep; some fundamentals of thermophysical properties; and Corrosion and SCC are all included in Chapter 5. Chapter 6 covers both Radiation Effects and Reactor Materials while the book is concluded with the Chapter 7 on Reactor Fuels. For first year graduate course, these sections were followed up with a term-long project on topics related to materials issues in reactor systems with in-class presentations by the students. Generally, we did not restrict on the students' selection of topics; a list given in the semester-beginning as well as the students' choice but on materials issues related to reactor applications.

We are not saying that this book is going to be a ‘panacea’ for curing all the problems faced by these instructors. Also, we would like to accept that many issues of importance to nuclear field remained untouched because we did not wish the book to be so voluminous making it difficult to cover the subject matter in a single semester. Moreover, many of the aspects such as radiation creep, embrittlement of pressure vessel steels, etc., were dealt in a rather simplistic fashion albeit they have extensive pedagogic advantages. Our experience indicated that even the contents of chapters included here are quite large for a one-semester course and often the last chapters on reactor materials and fuels are covered rather briefly. For making the course manageable for one semester, we could not include/cover phase diagrams and phase transformations in this course and the text.

We would like to gratefully acknowledge several past and present colleagues and students whose work has been incorporated in this book in one way or the other. Special thanks go to Mr. Brian Marple for giving inputs on the Gen-III+ reactors for Chapter 1. We would also like to acknowledge the support of Drs. Louis Mansur, Donald Olander, and Sheikh T. Mahmood for supporting our book proposal at the early stage. The authors are indebted to many authors and publishers who gave consent to the reproduction of appropriate figures etc. We would like to also acknowledge incredible efforts by Anja Tschörtner of Wiley-VCH for driving us to complete the book and we commend her sustained efforts in this regard. Acknowledgements are due to our current students and colleagues who went through the proofs for corrections and many comments. Finally, the book would not have been written without the much needed emotional support of our families, in particular to our spouses, Ratnaveni Murty and Mohar B. Charit.

K. Linga MurtyIndrajit CharitMay 5, 2012