THERMOMECANICAL TESTING AND MODELING OF REFRACTORIES IN EXTREME CONDITIONS

摘要

This research work is related to the industrial project, involving France and Germany, for making future nuclear plants using pressurised water. The high safety level of these reactors implies, under the vessel, a core-melt catcher in charge of retaining all the melted radioactive products, in case of a serious accident. The material constituting this catcher would then be submitted to extremely severe thermal and chemical loadings. This paper summarises the research programme carried out at Ecole des Mines de Paris on two envisaged refractories: a sintered magnesia and an alumina-spinel concrete. After a first material selection based on chemical resistance, sudden ascending thermal shocks, creep and crack growth tests have been performed in order to test the ability of the materials to resist such aggressive conditions. The thermal and mechanical observed behaviours have been modelled, to be further introduced in finite elements codes simulating serious accidents.