Electromagnetic non-destructive testing of the graphite core in advanced gas cooled reactors.

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The graphite moderators used in UK's advanced gas cooled nuclear reactors (AGRs) become degraded over time due to radiolytic oxidation and neutron bombardment, reducing the density of the brick. This can eventually lead to crack formation. This project extends EDF's research in using Eddy current spectroscopy in crack detection through profiling the moderator's conductivity, which is correlated with the brick density.The aim of this research is to investigate novel electromagnetic techniques based on eddy currents for profiling electrical conductivity, especially when the probe only has access from one side of the test piece. The techniques will exploit advanced signal processing and electromagnetic inversion algorithms and will use the AGR application as a case study. It is expected that the methodology could be more broadly applied to other eddy inspection problems where surface properties are important such as coating and surface processing.