Abstract
Aluminium—boron carbide metal matrix composites (Al-B4C MMCs) belong to the class of materials extensively used in the nuclear industry as a thermal neutron absorber in spent fuel casks. This article investigates a novel production method of Al-B4C MMCs—Friction Stir Additive Processing (FSAP)—as an alternative production method to casting or sintering. FSAP is derived from friction stir welding, which can be used to local modifications of microstructure, or it can be used to incorporate the second phase into the processed material. During this study, a variant of FSAP for MMC production was proposed, and its mechanical and thermal neutron absorbing properties have been investigated. Further, the influence of neutron irradiation on mechanical properties has been studied. Results show that FSAP can successfully produce Al-B4C MMCs with 7 mm thickness. Neutron irradiation causes only a slight increase in hardness, while its effect on tensile properties remains inconclusive.
Highlights
Aluminium-boron carbide metal matrix composites (Al-B4 C MMCs) belong to a class of advanced materials which is extensively used in the nuclear industry
Gamma rays can be detected by means of high-purity germanium (HPGe) detectors and from γ count rates neutron flux can be calculated
Measurement of induced activity of detectors started during 1 h after retrieving from channel and was performed for 2000 s using HPGe detectors
Summary
Aluminium-boron carbide metal matrix composites (Al-B4 C MMCs) belong to a class of advanced materials which is extensively used in the nuclear industry. As well as sintering, enables large quantity production of MMCs, but there are several issues with regards to these methods [7]. Porosity [8], interfacial reactions [9] or poor wetting between aluminium and boron carbide [10] can have a negative impact on the performance of the final product. Sintering techniques such as hot Academic Editor: Seungchan Cho. Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. During sintering aluminium and boron carbide must be in particle form which makes this process more expensive
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