Evaluation of Fracture toughness

of fine- and coarse-grain graphite

J. Sumita1, T. Shibata1, Y.
Tachibana1, M. Kuroda2
1 : Nuclear Hydrogen and Application Research
Center , JAEA
2 : Kumamoto University
14th International Nuclear Graphite
Specialist Meeting
th

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Experiments
3. Results
4. Summary

Methodology to confirm the integrity of

graphite component in HTTR
-Acceptance inspectionIn order to remove the components with harmful defects, the non-destructive
inspection UT and ET are carried out for the components in acceptance inspection.

Structure

Non-destructive
inspection
Material

After
machining

UT

ET

Hot plenum block

ET

Support post/seat

UT

ET

Control rod guide block

UT : Ultra sonic test, ET : Eddy current test

Components without harmful

defects do not fracture through the
in-service period on the basis of
fracture mechanics.
3

Methodology to confirm the integrity of

graphite component in HTTR -In-service
inspection In order to confirm the integrity of the graphite components in
in-service inspection,
Surveillance test
Mandatory or non-mandatory (depending on necessity)

Visual inspection by TV camera etc.

Mandatory (for HTTR)

If a defect ( > design assumption) is found in graphite components

by in-service inspection,
Causes shall be investigated
Propriety of continuous use shall be judged by
application of fracture mechanics etc.
It is necessary to understand the fracture mechanism of graphite.

Objectives
Previous studies of evaluation on fracture features of graphite
Effect of notch sharpness and size of specimen
Effect of oxidation, etc
Experimental methodology to determine fracture toughness of graphite
(ASTM D7779)
Some qualitative theories for fracture of graphite

To characterize fracture features of fine- and

coarse-grained graphites
The three-point-bending test is carried out for two kinds of specimens, a
fine- and coarse-grained graphite.
The fracture mechanism of both fine- and coarse-grained graphites is
investigated.
5

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Experiments
3. Results
4. Summary

Material
Fine-grained isotropic graphite
G347 (Manufactured by TOKAI CARBON)

Coarse-grained extruded graphite

FE250 (Manufactured by TOKAI CARBON)
Typical properties of G347 and FE250

Grade

Bulk
density
(g/cm3)

Bending
strength
(MPa)

Tensile
strength
(MPa)

Thermal
expansio
n*
(10-6/K)

Thermal
conducti
vity
(W/m
K)

G347

1.85

49.0

31.4

5.5

116

FE250

1.75

24.5

*RT 1000oC
3.3
162
http://www.tokaicarbon.co.jp/
7

Specimen preparation
Single edge notched beam specimen

Straight-through
notch

Specimen geometry
Introduce of notch: razor blade
Notch angle: approximately 15o
Depth and width of notch: profile projector
Cleaning: ethanol and acetone in the ultrasound bath
Root radius and notch angle: laser microscope

Fracture toughness test

Three-point-bending test

Three-point-bending test setup

Outer support span: 160 mm
Crosshead speed: 0.1 mm/min
Sampling rate to record load and displacement: 200 Hz
9

Calculation of fracture toughness

Calculation of value of fracture toughness
Fracture toughness KC is given by linear fracture mechanics

KC

Pmax S10 6 3 a W 1 2
g

32
32
BW
21 a W

g 1.9381 5.0947 a W 12.3861 a W

19.2142 a W 15.7747 a W 5.1270 a W

3

KC
Pmax
S
B
W
a

: Fracture toughness (MPa/m1/2)

: Maximum force (N)
: Support span (m)
: Specimen breadth (m)
: Specimen width (m)
: Notch depth (m)

The value of the fracture toughness

was calculated using the maximum
force on the load-displacement curve
obtained by the three-point-bending
test.
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Contents

1. Introduction
2. Experiments
3. Results
4. Summary

11

Load-displacement curves

Load (N)

A typical load-displacement curve

A : across grain

Displacement (mm)

FE250A

Slope
Maximum load Pmax

<

G347
Slope
Maximum load Pmax
12

Value of fracture toughness

Grade

Pmax(N)

Kc(MPa/m0.5)
(Obtained in this
study)

G347

148.3

1.15

FE250A

125.0

0.96

FE250W

132.4

1.02

A : across grain, W : with grain

Previous study for G347*1

Fracture toughness obtained by CT specimen (1.06 MPa/ m0.5)
Fracture toughness obtained by SENB specimen (1.09 MPa/ m0.5)
*1 Ekinaga, at. El., INGSM 9

Nearly equal
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Fracture toughness of finegrained graphite

Grade

Pmax(N)

Kc(MPa/m0.5)
(ASTM)

Kc(MPa/m0.5)
(Previous
study)

IG110

115.3

0.89*1

0.85

IG430

136.0

1.04*1

0.91*2

ETU10

121.0

0.93*3

*1 Yamada, et. al., HTR2012-4-020

*2 Kurumada, et. al., Transaction of the Japanese society of the
mechanical engineeras, A,63(608), 838-844, (1997)
*3 Matsushima, et. al., M&M 2012 (in Japanese)

*2

The fracture toughness of fine-grained graphite obtained in

accordance with ASTM D7779 is almost the same as that
reported in the previous studies.
The value of fracture toughness of the fine-grain graphite is
not different from that of the coarse-grain graphite.
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Application to HTGR
components

Fracture stress

c
KIC
a

: Fracture stress (MPa)

: Fracture toughness (MPa/m1/2)
: Harmful defect size(m)
: Shape factor

The fracture stress depends on the harmful defect size.

Fine-grained graphite
Small harmful defect
High fracture stress

The employment of fine-grained graphite for core

components of the HTGR has some advantages.
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Fracture mechanism
Grain

Crack

Pore

Small

Binder (pitch)

Grain size

Large

The fracture of graphtie is influenced by pre-existing defects or weak region.

The crack would basically propagate in pore.
If higher stress applied, the crack would propagate in binder.
The crack in both fine-grained and coarse-grained graphite would propagate
in pores and binders along with grain boundary.
If the direction of crack growth corresponds to the grain with proper
orientation, the crack would propagate inside grain.

In order to confirm this mechanism, the cracks propagation

16
are observed.

Observation of crack propagation

Method
Stereomicroscope

OLYMPUS SZX7

Material

:G347, FE250W, FE250A

Observed area

Notch

Crack
17

Crack observation by
stereomicroscope G347

Crack

The crack seems to propagate straight.

1000um

18

Crack observation by
stereomicroscope FE250W

Crack
Inside grain?

The crack seems to propagate in pores and binders.

1000um
Some cracks seem to propagate inside grain.
19

Crack observation by
stereomicroscope FE250A

Crack
Inside grain?

The crack seems to propagate in pores and binders.

1000um
Some cracks seem to propagate inside grain.

Future works
20
Polarization microscope , EBSD (electron back scattering diffraction).

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Experiments
3. Results
4. Summary

21

Summary
The fracture toughness of nuclear grade graphite
obtained in accordance with ASTM D7779 is almost
the same as that reported in the previous studies.
The value of fracture toughness of the fine-grained
graphite is not different from that of the coarsegrained graphite.
The crack in coarse-grained graphite seems to
propagate along with grain boundary and some
cracks seem to propagate inside grain.
It is planned that the crack propagation in graphite is
observed using the polarization microscope and
EBSD to confirm the direction of crack growth.
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Thank you
for your
attention!

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