Irradiation-induced property change in nuclear graphite is particularly important when considering the in-service lifetimes of graphite components. In other works, it has been shown that annealing of irradiated graphite above the irradiation temperature may heal atomic-level defects and thus reverse some amount of physical property change. In this work, virgin nuclear graphite IG-110 was annealed at 2500 °C to observe any microstructural changes due solely to high-temperature thermal annealing. The results shown in this study suggest that fullerene-like defects, which are not observed in as-prepared nuclear graphites, will arise due to thermal annealing near graphitization temperature. Consequently, such defects may directly contribute to non-recoverable physical property change which has previously been observed in irradiated nuclear graphites.
Article
Microstructural Changes in Nuclear Graphite Induced by Thermal Annealing
Materials Characterization
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-1-2022
Disciplines
Abstract
Citation Information
Johns, Steve; Yoder, Timothy; Chinnathambi, Karthik; Ubic, Rick; and Windes, William E. (2022). "Microstructural Changes in Nuclear Graphite Induced by Thermal Annealing". Materials Characterization, 194, 112423. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matchar.2022.112423