Temperature effect on IG-11 graphite wear performance

IG-11 graphite, used in the 10 MW high temperature gas-cooled test reactor (HTR-10), was tested under different temperatures on an SRV standard wear performance tester. The experiment temperatures were room temperature, 100, 200, 300 and 400 °C. According to the reactor structure, the experiments were designed to test graphite–graphite and graphite–stainless steel wear. The wear debris was collected, and the worn surfaces and debris were observed under scanning electronic microscope (SEM). It was found that there were different wear mechanisms at different temperatures. The main wear mechanism at room temperature was abrasive wear; at 200 °C, it was fatigue wear; at 400 °C, adhesive wear was observed. This difference was mainly due to the change of stress distribution at the contact area. The distribution of wear debris was also analyzed by EDX particle analysis software.