Final Report of Experimental Laboratory-Scale Brittle Fracture Studies of Glasses and Ceramics

摘要

An experimental program was conducted to characterize the fragments generated when brittle glasses and ceramics are impacted. The direct application of the results is to radioactive waste forms for which the effects of accidental impacts must be known or predictable. Two major measurable experimental responses used for characterization of these effects are (1) the size distribution of the fragments, including the sizes that are respirable, and (2) the increase in surface area of the brittle test specimen. This report describes the glass and ceramic materials characterized, the procedures and techniques used for the characterization of size distributions and surface areas, and the results of the two key responses of the impact tests. Five alternative methods of determining size distributions were compared. Also examined were the effects of diametral and axial specimen impact configurations and the use of mechanical stops to eliminate secondary crushing during testing. Microscopic characterizations of Pyrex and SRL 131 simulated waste glass and SYNROC fragments were also performed. Preliminary correlations of impact energy with key size-distribution parameters, fragment surface areas, and respirable fines were proposed as useful for future verification and for use with modeling and scale-up studies of brittle fracture of larger realistic waste forms. The impact fragments of all specimens could be described by lognormal size distributions. (ERA citation 08:014058)