The result of a wall failure in-pile experiment under the EAGLE project

The WF (wall failure) test of the EAGLE program, in which 2 kg of uranium dioxide fuel-pins were melted by nuclear heating, was successfully conducted in the IGR (Impulse Graphite Reactor) of NNC/Kazakhstan. In this test, a 3 mm-thick stainless steel (SS) wall structure was placed between fuel pins and a 10 mm-thick sodium-filled channel (sodium gap). During the transient, fuel pins were heated, which led to the formation of a fuel-steel mixture pool. Under the transient nuclear heating condition, the SS wall was strongly heated by the molten pool, leading to wall failure. The time needed for fuel penetration into the sodium-filled gap was very short (less than 1 s after the pool formation). The result suggests that molten core materials formed in hypothetical LMFBR core disruptive accidents have a certain potential to destroy SS-wall boundaries early in the accident phase, thereby providing fuel escape paths from the core region. The early establishment of such fuel escape paths is regarded as a favorable characteristic in eliminating the possibility of severe re-criticality events. A preliminary interpretation on the WF test results is presented in this paper.     

On the Possibility of Expanding the Dynamic Range of Broadband High-Frequency Receivers

The possibility of expanding the dynamic range of microwave receivers used in passive radar due to circuit specificities of the input linear circuits is considered. Engineering calculations and graphic dependences of the dynamic range as well as an example of constructive implementation and the results of measuring the main parameters are presented. The conclusion is made on the feasibility and expediency of using in microwave receivers with an extended dynamic range of input linear circuits with disableable amplification stages.     

Technology of Monitoring and Analysis of the Hydrometeorological Situation in the Arctic

Journal of Communications Technology and Electronics - A new geoinformation technology for monitoring the hydrometeorological situation in the Arctic is considered. This technology combines two...     

Special Important Aspects of the Thomson Effect

A comprehensive study of the mechanisms of heating and cooling originating from an electrical current in semiconductor devices is reported. The variation in temperature associated with the Peltier effect is not related to the presence of heat sources and sinks if the heat flux is correctly determined. The Thomson effect is commonly regarded as a heat source/sink proportional to the Thomson coefficient, which is added to the Joule heating. In the present work, we will show that this formulation of the Thomson effect is not sufficiently clear. When the heat flux is correctly defined, the Thomson heat source/sink is proportional to the Seebeck coefficient. In the conditions in which the Peltier effect takes place, the temperature gradient is created, and, consequently, the Thomson effect will occur naturally.     

On the existence and origin of sluggish diffusion in chemically disordered concentrated alloys

Concentrated single phase solid solutions, including medium- and high-entropy alloys, represent a new class of materials that have recently attracted significant interest due to exceptional functional and structural properties. Their fascinating properties are mainly attributed to the sluggish atomic-level diffusion and transport, but its controlling mechanisms are largely unknown and there is certain skepticism about its very existence. By using microsecond-scale molecular dynamics, on-the-fly and conventional kinetic Monte Carlo, we reveal the governing role of percolation effects and composition dependence of the vacancy migration energy in diffusion. Surprisingly, an increase of concentration of faster species (Fe) in face-centered cubic Ni-Fe alloy may decrease the overall atomic diffusion. Consequently, the composition dependence of tracer diffusion coefficient has a minimum near the site percolation threshold, ～20?at.%Fe. We argue that this coupled percolation and composition-dependent barriers for vacancy jumps within different subsystems in medium- and high-entropy alloys leads, indeed, to the sluggish diffusion. A fast method for preselecting materials with potentially desired properties is suggested.     

Constitutive Modeling of the Stacking Fault Energy-Dependent Deformation Behavior of Fe-Mn-C-(Al) TWIP Steels

The present article proposes a constitutive model that includes the stacking fault energy (SFE)-dependence of the deformation behavior of Fe-Mn-C-(Al) TWIP steels. The different kinetics of the SFE-dependent strain hardening of twinned and twin-free grains are accounted for. The high flow stress of TWIP steels investigated is attributed to the combined effect of a large fraction of twinned grains and a low dynamic recovery rate—both effects being associated with its lowest SFE.