TY - GEN
T1 - Corroborating Channel Gap Probe Measurements with an Optical Profiler
AU - Smith, James A.
AU - Quinn, Jon
AU - Cunningham, Arvin B.
N1 - Funding Information:
This manuscript has been authored by Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC07-05ID14517 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the U.S. Government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for U.S. Government purposes.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 IEEE.
PY - 2023/7/13
Y1 - 2023/7/13
N2 - As nuclear fuel plates get irradiated, their thicknesses change. How the fuel plate changes with irradiation is a significant parameter that is an important factor in predicting fuel performance in new fuel systems. The channel gap probe (CGP) is used to indirectly infer changes in fuel plate thicknesses by measuring the gaps between the fuel plates contained within capsules after each irradiation cycle. Independent measures should be used to corroborate salient measurements such as changes in fuel thickness which help ascertain fuel performance. The use of traditional metrological tools to validate CGP measurements are not practical due to the capsule geometry. The accuracy of the CGP inserted within a capsule has not been verified. Since there is no 'gold' standard measurement to verify CGP measurements, an optical profilometer has been used to corroborate the CGP measurements. The optical profilometer has been able to corroborate the capsules channel gaps to within 0.025 mm for both ends of the capsule. The optical profiler is also able to measure plate thickness that matched micrometer measurements to within 0.033 mm. The profilometer is also corroborated with the CGP measurements.
AB - As nuclear fuel plates get irradiated, their thicknesses change. How the fuel plate changes with irradiation is a significant parameter that is an important factor in predicting fuel performance in new fuel systems. The channel gap probe (CGP) is used to indirectly infer changes in fuel plate thicknesses by measuring the gaps between the fuel plates contained within capsules after each irradiation cycle. Independent measures should be used to corroborate salient measurements such as changes in fuel thickness which help ascertain fuel performance. The use of traditional metrological tools to validate CGP measurements are not practical due to the capsule geometry. The accuracy of the CGP inserted within a capsule has not been verified. Since there is no 'gold' standard measurement to verify CGP measurements, an optical profilometer has been used to corroborate the CGP measurements. The optical profilometer has been able to corroborate the capsules channel gaps to within 0.025 mm for both ends of the capsule. The optical profiler is also able to measure plate thickness that matched micrometer measurements to within 0.033 mm. The profilometer is also corroborated with the CGP measurements.
KW - nuclear fuel
KW - optical profiler
KW - time of flight
KW - ultrasound
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85166370199
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/894373ee-8952-39f0-a661-d46966ce75b3/
U2 - 10.1109/I2MTC53148.2023.10175997
DO - 10.1109/I2MTC53148.2023.10175997
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85166370199
SN - 9781665453837
T3 - Conference Record - IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference
SP - 1
EP - 5
BT - I2MTC 2023 - 2023 IEEE International Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference
PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
T2 - 2023 IEEE International Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference, I2MTC 2023
Y2 - 22 May 2023 through 25 May 2023
ER -