Light Ion Irradiation Creep of SiC Fibers in Torsion.

Creep tests were conducted in torsion on TEXTRON type SCS-6 TM silicon carbide (SiC) fibers during irradiations with 14 MeV deuterons for 450, 600 and 800 C. The fibers, produced by chemical vapor deposition )CVD), should be representative of the chemical vapor infiltrated (CVI) matrix of a SiC/SiC composite. SIc is known to undergo irradiation induced swelling which occurs without an incubation dose for temperatures below about 1000 C (R.J.Price, "Properties of SiC for Nuclear Fuel Particles" [5]). Such swelling in SiC may mask the irradiation creep strain in a tensile experiment, but plays a minor role in torsion creep tests. The torsional irradiation creep curves are characterized by long lasting strain transients during which the creep rate slows down before reaching approximately constant values. The steady state torsional creep rate y s in the range 450 to 800 C is similar to that of swelling for neutron irradiation SiC.

SCHOLZ Reinhard; 

1998-06-23

JRC16638