CX-020781: High throughput assessment of creep behavior of advanced nuclear reactor structural alloys by nano/micro indentation – Regents of the University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota (UMN), in collaboration with Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Bruker Nano Surfaces, and the University of California (UC) – Berkeley, proposes to develop a method for testing a wide variety of physical and chemical characteristics of advanced reactor steels in a short time using nano- and/or micro-indentation. If successful, the techniques and datasets generated by this proposed work may be adapted for beamline use in NSUF facilities where in-situ nanomechanical testing can be conducted during ion beam irradiation. The tasks associated with this project are (1) Initial characterization of starting alloy microstructures; (2) Nanochemical-based creep testing; (3) Imaging of deformed structures beneath indents from Task 2; (4) Bulk dead-load creep testing; and (5) Inputs to model and modeling guidance/development/validation. Existing laboratory facilities will be used.