Pioneering a Nanoscale Nuclear Materials Testing Capability
Materials Science Division faculty scientist Andy Minor and colleagues have devised a nanoscale testing technique for irradiated materials that provides macroscale materials-strength properties. This technique could help accelerate the development of new materials for nuclear applications, and reduce the amount of material required for testing of facilities already in service.
Researchers at the National Center for Electron Microscopy have devised a mechanical testing technique for irradiated materials to provide macroscale strength properties from nanoscale samples. This technique could help accelerate the development of new materials for nuclear applications, while reducing the amount of material required for testing facilities already in service. By using a specialized in situ mechanical testing device in a transmission electron microscope at the National Center for Electron Microscopy, the team could examine — with sub-nanoscale resolution — the localized nature of this deformation. This technique could help accelerate how reactor designers find suitable materials for engineering components in nuclear plants by translating nanoscale strength values into bulk properties
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