George B Ulrich

Dynamic High-Temperature Characterization of an Iridium Alloy in Compression at High Strain Rates

Iridium alloys have superior strength and ductility at elevated temperatures, making them useful as structural materials for certain high-temperature applications. However, experimental data on their high-temperature high-strain-rate performance are needed for understanding high-speed impacts in severe elevated-temperature environments. Kolsky bars (also called split Hopkinson bars) have been extensively employed for high-strain-rate characterization of materials at room temperature, but it has been challenging to adapt them for the measurement of dynamic properties at high temperatures. Current high-temperature Kolsky compression bar techniques are not capable of obtaining satisfactory high-temperature high-strain-rate stress-strain response of thin iridium specimens investigated in this study. We analyzed the difficulties encountered in high-temperature Kolsky compression bar testing of thin iridium alloy specimens. Appropriate modifications were made to the current high-temperature Kolsky compression bar technique to obtain reliable compressive stress-strain response of an iridium alloy at high strain rates (300 – 10000 s -1 ) and temperatures (750°C and 1030°C). Uncertainties in such high-temperature highstrain-rate experiments on thin iridium specimens were also analyzed. The compressive stressstrain response of the iridium alloy showed significant sensitivity to strain rate and temperature.

Dynamic high-temperature characterization of an iridium alloy in tension

Iridium alloys have been utilized as structural materials for certain high-temperature applications, due to their superior strength and ductility at elevated temperatures. The mechanical properties, including failure response at high strain rates and elevated temperatures of the iridium alloys need to be characterized to better understand high-speed impacts at elevated temperatures. A DOP-26 iridium alloy has been dynamically characterized in compression at elevated temperatures with high-temperature Kolsky compression bar techniques. However, the dynamic high-temperature compression tests were not able to provide sufficient dynamic high-temperature failure information of the iridium alloy. In this study, we modified current room-temperature Kolsky tension bar techniques for obtaining dynamic tensile stress-strain curves of the DOP-26 iridium alloy at two different strain rates (~1000 and ~3000 s-1) and temperatures (~750°C and ~1030°C). The effects of strain rate and temperature on the tensile stress-strain response of the iridium alloy were determined. The DOP-26 iridium alloy exhibited high ductility in stress-strain response that strongly depended on both strain rate and temperature.

Iridium alloy clad vent set manufacturing qualification studies

Qualification studies have been successfully conducted to demonstrate iridium alloy Clad Vent Set (CVS) manufacturing readiness for the General Purpose Heat Source (GPHS) program at the Oak Ridge Y‐12 Plant. These studies were joint comparison evaluations of both the Y‐12 Plant and EGG however, only the CVS cup metallurgical evalution will be presented here. The initial metallurgical comparisons in conjunction with follow‐up metallurgical work showed the Y‐12 Plant CVS product to be comparable to the fully qualified (for Galileo and Ulysses missions) EG&G‐MAT product. This allowed the Y‐12 Plant to commence pilot production of CVS components for potential use in the CRAF and CASSINI missions.

Dynamic High-Temperature Tensile Characterization of an Iridium Alloy

Iridium alloys have been utilized as structural materials for certain high-temperature applications due to their superior strength and ductility at elevated temperatures. In some applications where the iridium alloys are subjected to high-temperature and high-speed impact simultaneously, the high-temperature high-strain-rate mechanical properties of the iridium alloys must be fully characterized to understand the mechanical response of the components in these severe applications. In this study, the room-temperature Kolsky tension bar was modified to characterize a DOP-26 iridium alloy in tension at elevated strain rates and temperatures. The modifications include (1) a unique cooling system to cool down the bars while the specimen was heated to high temperatures with an induction heater; (2) a small-force pre-tension system to compensate for the effect of thermal expansion in the high-temperature tensile specimen; (3) a laser system to directly measure the displacements at both ends of the tensile specimen independently; and (4) a pair of high-sensitivity semiconductor strain gages to measure the weak transmitted force. The dynamic high-temperature tensile stress–strain curves of the iridium alloy were experimentally obtained with the modified high-temperature Kolsky tension bar techniques at two different strain rates (~1000 and 3000 s−1) and temperatures (~750 and 1030 °C).

Metallurgical Evaluation of Grit Blasted Versus Non-Grit Blasted Iridium Alloy Clad Vent Set Cup Surfaces

Metallurgical evaluations were conducted to determine what, if any, grain size differences exist between grit blasted and non-grit blasted DOP-26 iridium alloy cup surfaces and if grit blasting imparts sufficient compressive cold work to induce abnormal grain growth during subsequent temperature exposures. Metallographic measurements indicated that grit blasting cold worked the outside cup surface to a depth of approximately 19 {micro}m. Subsequent processing through the air burn-off (635 C/4h) and vacuum outgassing (1250 C/1h) operations was found to uniformly recrystallize the cold worked surface to produce grains with an average diameter of approximately 8.5 {micro}m (American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) grain size number 11). Follow-on heat treatments at 1375 C, 1500 C, and 1900 C for durations ranging from 1 min to 70 h yielded uniform grain sizes and no abnormal grain growth from grit blasting. Abnormal grain growth was noted at the 1500 C and 1900 C heat treatments in areas of cold work from excessive clamping during sample preparation.

Microindentation hardness evaluation of iridium alloy clad vent set cups

An iridium alloy, DOP‐26, is used as cladding for 238PuO2 fuel in radioisotope heat sources for space power systems. Presently, DOP‐26 iridium alloy clad vent sets (CVS) are being manufactured at the Oak Ridge Y‐12 Plant for potential use in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Cassini mission to Saturn. Wrought/ground/stress relieved blanks are warm formed into CVS cups. These cups are then annealed to recrystallize the material for subsequent fabrication/assembly operations as well as for final use. One of the cup manufacturing certification requirements is to test for Vickers microindentation hardness. New microindentation hardness specification limits, 210 to 310 HV, have been established for a test load of 1000 grams‐force (gf). The original specification limits, 250 to 350 HV, were for 200 gf testing. The primary reason for switching to a higher test load was to reduce variability in the test data. The DOP‐26 alloy exhibits microindentation hardness load dependence, therefore, new lim...