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Demonstration of Subscale Cermet Fuel Specimen Fabrication Approach Using Spark Plasma Sintering and Diffusion BondingNuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) has the potential to expand the limits of human space exploration by enabling crewed missions to Mars and beyond. The viability of NTP hinges on the development of a robust nuclear fuel material that can perform in the harsh operating environment (> or = 2500K, reactive hydrogen) of a nuclear thermal rocket (NTR) engine. Efforts are ongoing to develop fuel material and to assemble fuel elements that will be stable during the service life of an NTR. Ceramic-metal (cermet) fuels are being actively pursued by NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) due to their demonstrated high-temperature stability and hydrogen compatibility. Building on past cermet fuel development research, experiments were conducted to investigate a modern fabrication approach for cermet fuel elements. The experiments used consolidated tungsten (W)-60vol%zirconia (ZrO2) compacts that were formed via spark plasma sintering (SPS). The consolidated compacts were stacked and diffusion bonded to assess the integrity of the bond lines and internal cooling channel cladding. The assessment included hot hydrogen testing of the manufactured surrogate fuel and pure W for 45 minutes at 2500 K in the compact fuel element environmental test (CFEET) system. Performance of bonded W-ZrO2 rods was compared to bonded pure W rods to access bond line integrity and composite stability. Bonded surrogate fuels retained structural integrity throughout testing and incurred minimal mass loss.
Document ID
20180002032
Acquisition Source
Marshall Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Barnes, Marvin W. (NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Tucker, Dennis S. (NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Benensky, Kelsa M. (Tennessee Univ. Knoxville, TN, United States)
Date Acquired
March 22, 2018
Publication Date
February 26, 2018
Subject Category
Propellants And Fuels
Spacecraft Propulsion And Power
Report/Patent Number
M17-6413
Meeting Information
Meeting: ANS NETS 2018 - Nuclear and Emerging Technologies for Space Conference
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Country: United States
Start Date: February 26, 2018
End Date: March 1, 2018
Sponsors: American Nuclear Society
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.

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