Analyses of a restrained growth graphite irradiation creep experiment

Graphite is used as a moderator, reflector and structural component in pebble bed and prism High Temperature Reactors (HTRs). It is fortunate to reactor designers that irradiated graphite shows remarkably high creep behaviour under the influence of fast neutron irradiation at temperatures far below those required for significant creep strains to be generated in unirradiated graphite. This creep behaviour is important in the design of nuclear graphite reactor cores because the self-induced shrinkage stresses generated in typical core components during irradiation can be relieved. However, there are no reliable data on high fluence irradiation creep and the mechanistic understanding of the irradiation creep is insufficiently developed to reliably extrapolate to the high fluences expected of graphite in future HTR designs. The understanding of irradiation creep is further complicated because it has been experimentally observed that irradiation creep strain in graphite modifies other properties in particular the coefficient of thermal expansion. In addition modified changes in Young's modulus in crept specimens have been reported and it has also been postulated that irradiation creep may also modify dimensional change. The assessment of irradiation creep in graphite components is based on empirical laws derived from data obtained from small samples irradiated in a materials test reactor. However, due to the complicated irradiation rigs required and the amount of dimensional and property measurements needed to be taken, constant stress irradiation creep experiments are difficult and very expensive to carry out successfully. However, restrained creep experiments are simple to implement, less expensive and can be easily included as part of other, more conventional irradiation graphite experimental programmes. However, in the past, the disadvantage of these experiments has been that the results have been difficult to interpret using the then available analytical methods. In this paper the restrained creep experiment is revisited and analysed numerically and the possible benefit of using a restrained creep experiment in future graphite irradiation experiments is investigated. It is shown that a numerical simulation of the restrained creep experiment behaviour would be an essential tool to ensure that the stress within the specimen remains within defined limits so that specimen failure can be avoided.