Front Matter

Abstract

This ASTM International collection of Selected Technical Papers (STP) is the second in a series titled Graphite Testing for Nuclear Applications. The first, with the subtitle The Significance of Test Specimen Volume and Geometry and the Statistical Significance of Test Specimen Population (STP1578), was a compilation of papers presented at a symposium in Seattle in September 2013. This second compilation has the subtitle The Validity and Extension of Test Methods for Material Exposed to Operating Reactor Environments. Both the symposia and accompanying STPs were organized and managed by ASTM members from Subcommittee D02.F0 on Manufactured Carbon and Graphite Products. The motivation for these two events has been the recognition that the current comprehensive set of test standards, practices, guides, and specifications were developed principally to support manufacturers of carbon and graphite products where there are no constraints on test specimen volume or geometry, nor on testing environment. However, materials testing for nuclear reactor applications presents a number of constraints with potentially noncompliant application of standards without additional guidance. Furthermore, due to the importance of testing in the design and monitoring the safe operation of nuclear reactors, sample populations must be statistically significant and specimens must be representative of the bulk material. The first STP in this series focused on the testing of as-manufactured material with three underlying themes: evidence for size, geometry, and volume effects; technical basis for size restrictions in ASTM standards; and guidance on test numbers for valid measurements.