In situ transmission electron microscopy observation of melted germanium encapsulated in multilayer graphene

鈴木 誠也; 根本 善弘*; 椎木 菜摘*; 中山 佳子*; 竹口 雅樹*

Annalen der Physik, 535(9), p.2300122_1 - 2300122_12, 2023/09

https://doi.org/10.1002/andp.202300122

Germanene is a two-dimensional (2D) germanium (Ge) analogous of graphene, and its unique topological properties are expected to be a material for next-generation electronics. However, no germanene electronic devices have yet been reported. One of the reasons for this is that germanene is easily oxidized in air due to its lack of chemical stability. Therefore, growing germanene at solid interfaces where it is not oxidized is one of the key ideas for realizing electronic devices based on germanene. In this study, the behavior of Ge at the solid interface at high temperatures was observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). To achieve such in situ heating TEM observation, we fabricated a graphene/Ge/graphene encapsulated structure. In situ heating TEM experiments revealed that Ge like droplets moved and coalesced with other Ge droplets, indicating that Ge remained as a liquid phase between graphene layers at temperatures higher than the Ge melting point.

Large-eddy simulation on gas mixing induced by the high-buoyancy flow in the CIGMA facility

安部 諭; 柴本 泰照

Nuclear Engineering and Technology, 55(5), p.1742 - 1756, 2023/05

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.net.2023.01.019

The hydrogen behavior in a nuclear containment vessel is a significant issue when discussing the potential of hydrogen combustion during a severe accident. After the Fukushima-Daiichi accident in Japan, we have investigated in-depth the hydrogen transport mechanisms by utilizing experimental and numerical approaches. Computational fluid dynamics is a powerful tool for better understanding the transport behavior of gas mixtures, including hydrogen. This paper describes a large-eddy simulation of gas mixing driven by a high-buoyancy flow. We focused on the interaction behavior of heat and mass transfers driven by the horizontal high-buoyant flow during density stratification. For validation, the experimental data of the Containment InteGral effects Measurement Apparatus (CIGMA) facility were used. With a high-power heater for the gas-injection line in the CIGMA facility, a high temperature flow of approximately 390C was injected into the test vessel. By using the CIGMA facility, we can extend the experimental data to the high temperature region. The phenomenological discussion in this paper help understand the heat and mass transfer induced by the high-buoyancy flow in the containment vessel during a severe accident.

事故時の原子炉圧力容器及び炉内構造物の解析評価に用いる強度特性データ集

下村 健太; 山下 拓哉; 永江 勇二

JAEA-Data/Code 2022-012, 270 Pages, 2023/03

JAEA-Data-Code-2022-012.pdf:38.25MB

発電用原子炉である軽水炉において、東京電力ホールディングス株式会社福島第一原子力発電所と同様な全交流電源喪失が発生した場合には、原子炉圧力容器(RPV: Reactor Pressure Vessel)内の冷却機能の喪失、炉内の水位低下による燃料棒の露出、炉心溶融に伴うRPVの破損やRPV破損に伴う炉内の放射線物質の漏えいが発生することが考えられる。事故進展におけるRPVの損傷、溶融した燃料デブリの流出・拡大等の過程を検証、推定することは、廃炉作業を進める上で重要な情報となる。RPVの破損要因については、RPV下部構造部に加えられる荷重・拘束に起因する破損(力学的破損)、低融点金属や高融点酸化物とRPV底部の構造部材との共晶現象による破損(材料間反応による破損)、RPV底部の構造部材の融点近傍での破損が考えられる。破損要因の内、力学的破損については、数値解析(熱流動解析及び構造解析)により検証を行う。このような数値解析を実施する際には、RPV及び炉内構造物を構成する材料(ジルコニウム,炭化ホウ素,ステンレス鋼,ニッケル合金,低合金鋼等)の融点近傍までの伝熱特性(熱伝導率,比熱,密度)や材料特性(熱膨張係数,ヤング率,ポアソン比,引張,クリープ)が必要となる。本資料においては、公開文献を基に、RPV及び炉内構造物を構成する各材料の融点近傍までの母材の特性データをデータ集として取りまとめた。なお、RPV及び炉内構造物を構成する構造物の中には溶接部も存在するため、今回限られたデータであるが、溶接部に関する特性データも併せて示した。

Evolution of austenite lattice parameter during isothermal transformation in a 0.4 C low alloyed steel

Wang, Y.*; 友田 陽*; 大村 孝仁*; Gong, W.; Harjo, S.

Materialia, 27, p.101685_1 - 101685_9, 2023/03

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtla.2023.101685

The evolution of internal stress during displacive transformation is a topic of continuous debate. Neutron diffraction was used to study the isothermal bainite transformation in a 0.4 C low alloyed steel from 773 to 623 K to provide a clearer basis for discussion regarding the change in the austenite lattice parameter. According to diffraction profile analysis, fresh bainite possesses a body-centered tetragonal structure, and its c/a ratio decreases rapidly over time. The austenite lattice parameter increases or decreases depending on whether the transformation temperature is above or below the nose of the Time-Temperature-Transformation (TTT) curve. This isothermal transformation behavior can be divided into two categories: above and below the nose of TTT curve, which correspond to the upper and lower bainites, respectively. The internal stresses caused by the transformation strains are relaxed by dislocation motion and vacancy formation. The yielded dislocations and vacancies not only affect the broadening of both austenite and bainitic ferrite diffraction peaks but also the lattice parameter.

New JENDL-4.0/HE neutron and proton ACE files

今野 力

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 6 Pages, 2023/00

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2023.2237970

JENDL-4.0/HEの中性子と陽子ACEファイルは2017年に作られ、そのうちの22核種の中性子ACEファイルと25核種の陽子ACEファイルがPHITSコードと一緒に公開されている。最近、JENDL-4.0/HEの中性子と陽子ACEファイルに入っている以下の5つのデータに問題があることが見つかった; NとOのACEファイル、発熱数、損傷エネルギー生成断面積、2次中性子多重度、核分裂断面積。そこで、これらの問題を修正したJENDL-4.0/HEの新しい中性子と陽子ACEファイルを作成した。この論文では問題点及び新しい中性子と陽子ACEファイルをどのように作成したかについて詳述する。

Prediction of critical heat flux for the forced convective boiling based on the mechanism

小野 綾子; 坂下 弘人*; 山下 晋; 鈴木 貴行*; 吉田 啓之

Proceedings of 12th Japan-Korea Symposium on Nuclear Thermal Hydraulics and Safety (NTHAS12) (Internet), 7 Pages, 2022/10

本研究では、新しい機構論に基づいた限界熱流束予測手法を提案する。適切な安全評価を行うため、また、設計コストを削減するために、メカニズムに基づくCHFの予測方法の確立が、長い間望まれてきた。核沸騰の高熱流束域からCHFまでの加熱面付近の気液挙動に関するいくつかの実験結果から、われわれは、加圧水型軽水炉でのCHFを予測するにはマクロ液膜ドライアウトモデルが適用できると考えている。マクロ液膜ドライアウトモデルを用いてCHFを予測するには、燃料表面のマクロ液膜の厚さとその上面を覆う蒸気泡の通過期間を予測することが必要となる。本研究では、著者らが提案したマクロ液膜の厚さの予測手法と蒸気泡の通過期間の予測手法を組み合わせることで、強制対流沸騰におけるCHFを評価する。評価した結果と強制対流沸騰におけるCHFの実験データを比較することで、その妥当性を検証する。

Hydrogen release reaction from sodium hydride with different sample quantities

土井 大輔

Proceedings of 29th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE 29) (Internet), 7 Pages, 2022/08

https://doi.org/10.1115/ICONE29-91847

In sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFRs), hydrogen is a major nonmetallic impurity in the coolant during normal operation. A higher hydrogen concentration than the gas-liquid equilibrium had been transiently detected in the gas space of the actual SFR plant. However, the chemical reactions that caused hydrogen generation, which involve several sodium compounds, have not been identified. Furthermore, the thermal behavior of these hydrogen release reactions has not been thoroughly investigated. In this study, the hydrogen release behavior of sodium hydride, which could be involved in all of these reactions, was clarified by two experimental methods dealing with different sample quantities. In the thermal analysis with a semi-micro sample of about 1mmol, the hydrogen generation was demonstrated by mass spectrometry as the sample mass decreased, suggesting thermal decomposition. A monomodal hydrogen release curve similar to the thermal analysis result was obtained in the heating experiment with a macro amount sample of about 1mol. These experimental results showed consistent activation energies within the standard error. Therefore, it was elucidated that the ideal reaction behavior obtained by thermal analysis could be sufficiently extrapolated to the reaction behavior occurring in a larger amount of sample. These findings provide fundamental insights into the thermal decomposition of sodium hydride and are indispensable for analyzing hydrogen release behavior in other hydrogen release reactions involving sodium hydride.

Experimental investigation of natural convection and gas mixing behaviors driven by outer surface cooling with and without density stratification consisting of an air-helium gas mixture in a large-scale enclosed vessel

安部 諭; Hamdani, A.; 石垣 将宏*; 柴本 泰照

Annals of Nuclear Energy, 166, p.108791_1 - 108791_18, 2022/02

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2021.108791

This paper describes an experimental investigation of natural convection driven by outer surface cooling in the presence of density stratification consisting of an air-helium gas mixture (as mimic gas of hydrogen) in an enclosed vessel. The unique cooling system of the Containment InteGral effects Measurement Apparatus (whose test vessel is a cylinder with 2.5-m diameter and 11-m height) is used, and findings reveal that the cooling location relative to the stratification plays an important role in determining the interaction behavior of the heat and mass transfer in the enclosed vessel. When the cooling region is narrower than the stratification thickness, the density-stratified region expands to the lower part while decreasing in concentration (stratification dissolution). When the cooling region is wider than the stratification thickness, the stratification is gradually eroded from the bottom with decreasing layer thickness (stratification breakup). This knowledge is useful for understanding the interaction behavior of heat and mass transfer during severe accidents in nuclear power plants.

原子炉における機構論的限界熱流束評価技術の確立に向けて,2; 機構論的限界熱流束予測評価手法確立に向けた研究とその課題

大川 富雄*; 森 昌司*; Liu, W.*; 小瀬 裕男*; 吉田 啓之; 小野 綾子

日本原子力学会誌ATOMO, 63(12), p.820 - 824, 2021/12

https://doi.org/10.3327/jaesjb.63.12_820

原子炉設計における効率的な燃料設計および最適な安全評価のために、機構論に基づいた限界熱流束評価技術が望まれている。この長年の技術課題は、近年の詳細解析技術及び計測技術の体系的統合を段階的に進めることで、打開できる可能性がある。このため本研究専門委員会では、将来的な限界熱流束評価技術の構築に向けて、過去の膨大な研究を精査することで必要な知見を整理する。これらの議論を通して、原子炉における機構論的限界熱流束評価技術に必要な研究課題を提示する。Part2では、これまでの限界熱流束機構に関する基礎研究や限界熱流束の予測手法確立に必須な数値解析手法の発展にふれ、課題提起を行う。

Temperature effects on local structure, phase transformation, and mechanical properties of calcium silicate hydrates

Im, S.*; Jee, H.*; Suh, H.*; 兼松 学*; 諸岡 聡; 小山 拓*; 西尾 悠平*; 町田 晃彦*; Kim, J.*; Bae, S.*

Journal of the American Ceramic Society, 104(9), p.4803 - 4818, 2021/09

https://doi.org/10.1111/jace.17881

This study aims to elucidate the effect of heating on the local atomic arrangements, structure, phase transformation, and mechanical properties of synthesized calcium-silicate-hydrate (C-S-H). The alteration in the atomic arrangement of the synthesized C-S-H (Ca/Si = 0.8) and the formation of crystalline phases that occurred in three distinct transformation stages of dehydration (105-200 C), decomposition (300-600 C), and recrystallization (700-1000 C) were investigated via powder X-ray diffraction, Si nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. Further, the deformation of the local atomic bonding environment and variations in mechanical properties during the three stages were assessed via pair distribution function analysis based on in-situ total X-ray scattering. The results revealed that the C-S-H paste before heating exhibited a lower elastic modulus in real space than that in the reciprocal space in the initial loading stage because water molecules acted as a lubricant in the interlayer. At the dehydration stage, the strain as a function of external loading exhibited irregular deformation owing to the formation of additional pores induced by the evaporation of free moisture. At the decomposition stage, the structural deformation of the main d-spacing (d 3.0 ) was similar to that of the real space before the propagation of microcracks. At the recrystallization stage, the elastic modulus increased to 48 GPa owing to the thermal phase transformation of C-S-H to crystalline -wollastonite. The results provide direct experimental evidence of the micro- and nanostructural deformation behavior of C-S-H pastes after exposure to high temperature under external loading.