Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
1473672 | Journal of the European Ceramic Society | 2014 | 8 Pages |
Abstract
A 41-m long glass tube structure, used to guide low energy neutrons to a backscattering spectrometer, fractured in five places in mid-September 2011. The structure was made of hundreds of 1.5Â cm or 2.5Â cm thick bonded borosilicate glass plates. Fractographic examination identified the fracture origins and the stress states when fracture occurred. The cause of fracture was traced to damage introduced during the magnitude 5.8 earthquake that occurred 150Â km away in Virginia on August 23, 2011. Lateral displacements of the earth created bending and torsional displacements in the beam line of as much as 2Â mm caused cracks to form in the glass plates. Finite element modeling verified the displacements and stresses that caused damage.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Materials Science
Ceramics and Composites
Authors
George D. Quinn, Oded Zilcha, J. Michael Rowe, Donald J. Pierce,