| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2025 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Composite Materials for Nuclear Applications III
|
| Presentation Title |
Alloying Yttrium Hydride via Powder Metallurgy |
| Author(s) |
Darrell Cheu, Aditya Shivprasad, Caitlin Kohnert |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Darrell Cheu |
| Abstract Scope |
Yttrium hydride is a commonly proposed material for solid moderators in nuclear reactors due to its high hydrogen atomic density at elevated temperatures (> 500°C). However, yttrium hydride has a resonance cross-section that upscatters neutrons at 1 eV, affecting nuclear reactor performance since neutrons must downscatter to 0.0253 eV. To remove this resonance cross-section, erbium hydride is alloyed into yttrium hydride at atomic percentages of 50, 25, 10, 5 and 1%. Due to theoretical solubility and matching pressure-composition isotherms, erbium hydride is mixed with yttrium hydride and pressed together before pellet sintering. Sintered pellets were cross sectioned axially and phase identification was performed using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and electron backscatter diffraction. All characterization methods showed solubility with no distinct phases appearing, demonstrating that an yttrium-erbium hydride alloy can be fabricated using the same powder metallurgical method to produce yttrium hydride. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Nuclear Materials, Composites, Hydrometallurgy |