NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS

Problem Solving

Nuclear Power Plants

The following examples illustrate some of our contributions to this business sector:

• Touchstone has performed failure analyses on expansion bellows used in the cooling water system of nuclear power plants. In one case, re-solution annealing had bonded the two plys of metal together in a number of areas. Since the two plys are bonded and cannot move independently of each other, a high stress level was created at the bonded locations during forming and/or fatigue testing. The combination of this higher local stress and the lower yield strength created by re-solution annealing had decreased the fatigue life of the bellows.
• Touchstone has performed ultra high temperature fatigue testing of refractory materials used in the nuclear industry.
• Samples of single crystal molybdenum were heated to over 900 degrees F and placed in the pre-heated stage of a Charpy impact tester. Thermocouples had been welded to the samples to allow test temperature monitoring so that impact occurred at the moment the sample reached the desired temperature.
• Touchstone is working on the development of lightweight materials used for the absorption of radiation.

The above examples are only a sample of our work in this area. We would be pleased to provide any additional information you may require. We also invite you to review examples on our website of work that we have performed in support of other business sectors.