| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
Materials Science & Technology 2020
|
| Symposium
|
Nanotechnology for Energy, Environment, Electronics, Healthcare and Industry
|
| Presentation Title |
Additively Manufactured In-pile Strain Sensors |
| Author(s) |
Timothy Le Phero, Kaelee Novich, Bette Gougar, Samuel Cutler, Kiyo Fujimoto, Richard Skifton, David Estrada, Brian Jaques |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Timothy Le Phero |
| Abstract Scope |
Accurate, real-time monitoring of mechanical strain in fuel, cladding, and structural components of nuclear reactors provides verification data to modeling and simulation efforts that aim to decrease nuclear innovation time in developmental materials. Current resistive-strain sensors have limited performance during in-pile experiments due to the harsh operating conditions and limited spacing between fuel and cladding components. In this work, aerosol jet printing (AJP) and nanoparticle inks are utilized to fabricate reliable, miniaturized capacitive-strain sensors (CSS) directly onto simulated fuel cladding made of aluminum or stainless-steel alloys. The high-temperature resiliency of our CSS was tested and compared to commercially available strain sensors with a mechanical test frame at elevated temperatures. The effects of AJP process parameters, ink composition, and heat-treatment on the reliability of our sensors was also characterized. The results demonstrate the potential of AJP to fabricate nuclear sensors with reduced invasiveness and stable performance for high-temperature applications. |