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Space Vehicles

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1992

Reactor

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Full-Text Articles in Aerospace Engineering

Total Hemispherical Emittance Of Niobium-1% Zirconium Fuel Cladding For The Sp-100 Space Reactor, John E. Thomason Iii Dec 1992

Total Hemispherical Emittance Of Niobium-1% Zirconium Fuel Cladding For The Sp-100 Space Reactor, John E. Thomason Iii

Theses and Dissertations

Total hemispherical emittance was measured for the SP-100 reactor fuel cladding alloy (Nb-l% Zr). Based on a standard test method (ASTM C 835-82), experiments were conducted on a reference sample of oxidized stainless steel and then on a sample of actual cladding. The sample is heated in a vacuum by passing DC current through it until reaching equilibrium. Measurements are made of the electrical power dissipated in the sample and of the surface temperature. Using the Stefan-Boltzmann Law and some key assumptions concerning conductive and radiative heat transfer, the measured quantities are used to calculate emittance. Calculated values for unoxidized …