Compatibility Of Liquid And Vapor Alkali Metals With Construction Materials

This report presents the highlights of what has been ascertained about the interactions of liquid and vapor sodium, NaK potassium, lithium, and cesium with solid materials of potential use in practical liquid-metal systems. Data for inclusion were selected by the authors on the basis of their practical utility to designers and research workers. There has been an accelerating interest in alkali metals as (1) coolants for fast-breeder nuclear reactors, (2) coolants in space power plants, (3) Rankine-cycle working fluids in high- temperature nuclear reactors, (4) propellants in ion-propulsion engines, (5) seeding materials in magnetohydrodynamic generators, (6) space-charge dissipating media in thermionic generators, and (7) high-temperature hydraulic fluids. Prominent among the liquid-metals research efforts are studies directed toward finding the best containment material for a given alkali under a given set of operating conditions.

Critical Materials Problems in Energy Production discusses the most challenging of the materials problems in the areas of production, distribution, and energy storage. This book is a result of the Distinguished Lecture Series on “Critical Materials Problems in Energy Production sponsored by the Joint Center for Materials Science in New Mexico. This text is organized into eight sections encompassing 29 chapters that cover topics on nuclear power, materials for high-temperature applications, solar energy, direct solar conversion, coal and other fossil fuels, superconducting materials, and energy storage devices. After a brief introduction to overall perspective of the energy program, the book goes on discussing the problems encountered in nuclear power generation, including the complication of their interdependence, the severity of the service parameters, and the need for safety and reliability. Section II examines the progress made in the development of high-temperature materials suitable for use in magnetohydrodynamic converts and advanced turbines and jet engines. The subsequent two sections address the thermal/optical requirements for solar utilization devices and the limitations encountered in solar cell materials. Section V deals with the metallurgical problems emanating from the materials used for confinement and the flow of energy in steam generating systems. This section also describes the close dependence of catalytic performance on technological innovations in the field of materials science. Section VI discusses the basics of superconductivity phenomena. Section VII deals with the materials problems related to the development of more efficient batteries. Discussions on new electrode materials, solid electrolytes, and high-temperature battery systems are included in this section. The concluding section provides supplemental texts containing references and readings.

The introductory sections contain a brief discussion of the general methods of producing fiber-reinforced composites and of the theory of fiber-reinforcement of metals. The body of the report describes research on fiber-reinforced metal matrix composites, and is organized according to metal matrix materials. For convenience, the report is divided into two sections: Low density matrices (including aluminum, magnesium, and titanium and their alloys) and high density matrices (cobalt, copper and its alloys, iron, lead-tin alloys, nickel and nickel alloys, silver, tantalum, and tungsten). (Author).

This report summarizes the achievements on fourteen programs that were conducted in support of the Metals Sheet Rolling Program. These included programs for developing practices to produce large sheets from two grades of unalloyed tungsten (via powder metallurgy and arc melting, respectively), as well as for the Mo-0.5Ti, Mo-0.5Ti-0.1Zr-0.03C (TZM), Cb-10W-1Zr-0.1C (D-43), Cb-10W-2.5Zr (Cb-752), and Ta-30Cb-7.5V alloys. In addition, pilot sheet-rolling programs were also carried out for the Cb-27Ta-10W-1Zr (FS-85), Cb-5Mo-5V-1Zr (B-66), Ta-7W-3Re (GE-473), and Ta-9.6W-2.4Hf-0.01C (T-222) compositions.