Young’s Modulus and Gas Tightness Measurement of Ceramic Matrix Composite-SiC for Advanced Reactor Application

Considering the core outlet temperature of high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) is above 1000 °C and in the accident conditions, a new type of heat-resistant silicon carbide (SiC) ceramic matrix composites needs to be developed. Analysis of the Young’s modulus and gas tightness of ceramic matrix composite-SiC should be paid attention to due to the inherent brittleness and large porosity of SiC ceramics and also the high temperature and high pressure environment where the fuel cladding works. In this paper, a set of measuring device is designed, which is capable of measuring both Young’s modulus and gas tightness of sic ceramic materials. In order to avoid the shatter of ceramic matrix composite-SiC due to excessive deformation in the measurement process of Young’s modulus, Wheatstone bridge principle is used in the experiment to convert the changes of resistance which generated by the micro-deformation of resistance strain gage adhesive on the surface of the specimen into voltage signal, then the relationship between the amplified voltage signal and the strain of specimen can be established, thereby the Young’s modulus of the specimen can be calculated. The measuring method used in this experiment is more rapid, accurate and economic than previous methods. Besides, there is no need for extra measuring device to measure gas tightness of specimen for it has been taken into account in designing process.Copyright © 2013 by ASME