The relationship between intercept length and grain diameter in sintered uranium dioxide pellets

Abstract

A series of measurements of the relationship between the mean intercept length and the true grain diameter in sintered UO 2 pellets is reported. The analysis has been carried out on the assumption that the grains are spherical, using a mathematical procedure due to Shephard. It is shown that the grain diameter is generally less than the mean intercept length and that the variation of the proportionality constant with intercept length, in the range 4–17 μm, is only slight. A mean value of 0.855 has been found for the ratio, grain diameter:mean intercept length.