ORNL-2106 - the Molten Salt Energy Technologies Web Site

a plug when they came in contact with the refriger-
ated trap inlet.
A study of an apparent chemical change brought
about in the fuel during operation of MTR in-pile
loop No. 3 is also being conducted. Determinations
are being made of the nickel, chromium, and iron
content of the fuel, and radiochemical analyses
of the fuel are nearly complete. The analysis of
the foreign materials taken from the pump is
partial I y completed.
The fission-gas adsorption traps from MTR in-
pile loop No. 4 have been received, and analyses
of copper tubing sections and of acetone washes
of the carbon adsorber are under way.
CREEP AND STRESS-CORROSION TESTS
W. W. Davis
N. E. Hinkle
J. C. Wilson
A. S. Olson
J. C. Zukas
A heat transfer test of the stress-corrosion appa-
ratus designed3 for operation in HB-3 of the LITR
was made in the LITR to check the heating to be
expected from the fuel. It was not possible to
reach the desired temperature of l5OOOF with the
2.5 g of the fuel mixture (No. 41) NaF-ZrF,-UF,
(63-25-12 mole %) used in this test. A bench
mockup which reached the same temperature as
that attained in the reactor indicated that only
about 70 w of heat was generated by fission.
About 200 w of heating was expected from this
fuel at the depressed flux measured in HB-3 of
the LITR. For the next test a fused salt with
more uranium will be used, or the number of con-
ductive fins will be seduced.
Three more tube-burst stress-corrosion speci-
mens were exposed to radiation in the LITR, and
two more bench tests were completed. The irradi-
ated specimens failed after 164, 260, and 285 hr
at l5OOOF with a maximum stress of 2000 psi,
whereas one specimen bench-tested under similar
led in about 935 hr.
ode at 14506F, 50 deg
tured after only 500 hr
of the type to be used in ART
ected to be available
and stress-corrosion
3J. C. Wilson et al., ANP Quar. Prog. Rep. Sepf. 10,
1955, ORNL-1947, p 165.
I
PERIOD ENDING JUNE 10, 1956
experiments. Components for the MTR tube-burst
test apparatus are being fabricated.
One of the specimens tested previously in the
MTR tensile-creep-test apparatus4 ruptured outside
the gage length, and therefore the postirradiation
elongation measurement was made on this speci-
men. The elongation was 1.7% after 760 hr at
l5OOOF in helium; this value is higher than was
expected. The corresponding bench tests have
still not been completed, because experimental
difficulties (mainly leaks in the bellows) required
that the apparatus be rebuilt.
A pneumatic stressing device for bench and in-
pile tensile-creep tests was built and is being
leak tested. Two pneumatic extensometers for
use with this device have been tested. The
pneumatic device will provide a powerful, compact
means for stressing creep specimens with loads
as great as 10,OOO Ib.
Parts for a stress-relaxation machine are being
built. A pneumatic valve operator has been adapted
for stressing the specimen, and a pneumatic strain-
controlling system is being developed.
MTR STRESS-CORROSION APPARATUS
J. C. Wilson
C. D. Baumann W. E. Brundage
The stress-corrosion equipment formerly desig-
nated as the alternate stress-corrosion apparatys
was modified to change the platinum heater to a
simpler, helically wound heater made from molyb-
denum wire. The design, described previou~ly,~
is completed, and fabrication and assembly have
been partially completed on a model with which
heat transfer tests will be made in the LITR.
DUCTILITY OF NICKEL-BASE ALLOYS
J. C. Wilson . T. C. Price*
An investigation is being made of the factors
that govern the ductility of nickel-base alloys.
As a part of this study, tensile tests were run on
lnconel and Nichrome V at strain rates of 0.002
and 0.2 in./min at temperatures ranging from 500
to 14OOOF. At no temperature was any abrupt
4W. W. Davis, N. E. Hinkle, and J. C. Wilson, ANP
Quat. Prog. Rep. March IO, 1956. ORNL-2061, p 190.
-
'W. W. Davis, N. E. Hinkle, and J, C. Wilson, ANP
Quar. Prog. Rep. March 10, 1956, ORNL-2061, Fig.
8.12, p 191.
%n assignment from Pratt 8, Whitney Aircraft.
237