Dynamic thermal stresses in a pulsed reactor

Abstract

The paper begins by considering the reasons why dynamic thermal stresses are rarely encountered and then goes on to discuss the three means by which they may most readily be produced: large electric currents, impulsive electromagnetic radiation and neutron bombardment of fissile material. This is followed by a brief description of the U.K.A.E.A. pulsed reactor Viper (the design studies for which were the starting-point of the present work) and by theoretical solutions for the elastic displacements and stresses in slender cylinders and cones when rapidly heated. The paper then discusses the physical properties of enriched uranium and goes on to describe experiments on cylinders and cones of this material when subjected to large neutron pulses in Viper, including the problems of measurement in the hostile environment. Agreement between the theoretical and experimental displacements is good.