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Conference Article: Stress Wave Propagation Following Primary Cracking In Cylindrical Specimens of Brittle Materials

Abstract

Components in high temperature reactors can be subjected to both thermal and mechanical loading, which may cause them to fracture in an unstable manner if the material is initially brittle or becomes so through irradiation embrittlement. Furthermore, stress waves created following primary cracking may cause further fractures in such components. In a recent study, dynamic analysis of the stress waves in cylindrical specimens fractured as a result of applying a thermal load has been carried out using the finite element method. Effects of the propagation speed of the primary crack have been considered and the assumption of uniform crack speed has been assessed. The computational results obtained are to be validated by making comparisons with experiments. The aim is to obtain a better understanding of the dynamic response after primary cracking. The validated modelling procedures will eventually be used to predict the behaviour of brittle components in advanced power plants, such as high temperature nuclear reactors.

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Reference:

Proceedings of the Conference on High Temperature Reactors, Beijing, China, September, 22-24, 2004

International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna (Austria)

HTR-2004, pp:1-10