Browsing by Author "Jones, KA"

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    The preparation of spheroidal UO2 - ThO2 particles
    (Australian Atomic Energy Commission, 1963-03) Reeve, KD; Jones, KA
    A self—abradory process is described for the small-scale preparation of 150 - 200 micron spheroidal particles of various UO2- ThO2 compositions. The particles can be sintered to high densities before or after dispersion in beryllium oxide. Because of the high compaction pressure used in making particles, they are strong enough to resist abrasion and crushing during mixing with beryllium oxide powder, after sintering, the particles consist of a (U, Th)02 solid solution with a small range of composition, but the overall composition does not vary from one particle to another. The types of porosity observed after sintering are consistent with the occurrence of two competitive mechanisms during spheroidisation, namely particle abrasion and particle build-up.
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    Sintering studies on ceramic fuel materials
    (Australian Atomic Energy Commission, 1964-01) Reeve, KD; Jones, KA
    Satisfactory dense crack—free dispersions of spheroidal U02 — Th02 particles in BeO can be produced by "co-sintering", a process in which unsintered particles are hydrostatically pressed in BeO and the dispersion is sintered in one step, the large voids and cracks in dispersions of fully sintered particles in BeO following sintering are related to mismatched sintering shrinkage between the two phases; they are probably indicative of a high interfacial energy between the two phases. Co—sintering has been used for individual fabrication of specimens for irradiation testing, but is not immediately applicable to large scale fabrication of fuel element shapes, Possible modifications of the method are discussed.