Protective yttria coatings of melting crucible for metallic fuel slugs |
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Authors: | Jong‐Hwan Kim Hoon Song Ki‐Hwan Kim Chan‐Bock Lee |
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Institution: | Next Generation Fuel Development Division, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon, South Korea |
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Abstract: | As one of the candidate coating materials for a melting crucible, yttrium oxides were deposited on graphite and niobium substrates using slurry and plasma spraying methods. Thermal cycling tests and interaction studies between U–Zr/U–Zr–RE fuel melt and the Y2O3 coatings were carried out to evaluate the performance as reusable coatings for a melting crucible. A multi‐layer coating method was also applied to overcome the issue of a thermal expansion mismatch between the coating and substrate. The results showed that the plasma‐sprayed coatings showed a good consolidation after deposition compared to slurry coating. The plasma‐sprayed Y2O3 coating on the niobium substrate showed better thermal cycling resistance than those coated on a graphite substrate. The proposed TaC/Y2O3 double‐layer coating which was plasma‐sprayed on the niobium substrate showed improved characteristics with no reaction layer formation and no separation from the substrate after the interaction with the U–Zr–RE melt. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
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Keywords: | metallic fuel thermal cycling melt dipping Y2O3 coating crucible |
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