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A Probabilistic Based Failure Model For Components Fabricated From Anisotropic Graphite, Chengfeng Xiao
A Probabilistic Based Failure Model For Components Fabricated From Anisotropic Graphite, Chengfeng Xiao
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The nuclear moderator for high temperature nuclear reactors are fabricated from graphite. During reactor operations graphite components are subjected to complex stress states arising from structural loads, thermal gradients, neutron irradiation damage, and seismic events. Graphite is a quasi-brittle material. Two aspects of nuclear gradegraphite, i.e., material anisotropy and different behavior in tension and compression, are explicitly accounted for in this effort. Fracture mechanic methods are useful for metal alloys, but they are problematic for anisotropic materials with a microstructure that makes it difficult to identify a "critical" flaw. In fact cracking in a graphite core component does not necessarily …