The Gas Cooled Fast Reactor (GCFR) Phase I Assembly is the first in a series of ZPR-9 critical assemblies designed to provide a reference set of reactor physics measurements in support of the 300 MW(e) GCFR Demonstration Plant designed by General Atomic Company. The Phase I Assembly was the first complete mockup of a GCFR core ever built. A set of basic reactor physics measurements were performed in the assembly to characterize the neutronics of the assembly and assess the impact of the neutron streaming on the various integral parameters. The analysis of the experiments was carried out using ENDF/B-IV based data and two-dimensional diffusion theory methods. The Benoist method of using directional diffusion coefficients was used to treat the anisotropic effects of neutron streaming within the framework of diffusion theory. Calculated predictions of most integral parameters in the GCFR showed the same kinds of agreements with experiment as in earlier LMFBR assemblies.

This report describes a computer program, called ANL/HIWAY, for estimating air quality levels of nonreactive pollutants produced by vehicular sources. It is valid for receptors at distances of tens to hundreds of meters, at an angle, downwind of the roadway, in relatively uncomplicated terrain. It may be used by planners to analyze the effects of a proposed roadway on adjacent air quality. The ANL/HIWAY model expands the evaluation capabilities of the EPA/HIWAY dispersion model. This report also serves as a user's manual for running the ANL/HIWAY PROGRAM. All command structures are described in detail, with sample problems exemplifying their use.

Annual report of the Argonne National Laboratory Land Reclamation Program outlining the activities and research conducted during the year, various assessments and discussion, and related documentation.

The improvement in the method of large deflection elastic-plastic analysis of shells and other structures appears to have continued interest. With the development in this work an improved numerical suppression scheme is now available for the large deflection elastic-plastic analysis of axisymmetric shells of revolution subjected to symmetric loadings. Quasi-linearization of Sander's non-linear shell equations is presented for the first time. With these quasi-linearized equations the suppression scheme has been developed to solve non-linear boundary-value problems. This suppression scheme has been used in conjunction with a Newton-Raphson method to improve a stable convergence process at the yield surface in elastic-plastic problems. Results presented indicate the accuracy of this numerical scheme. It appears to be possible to extend this method for more complicated situations.

This document is a formal report on the scientific workstation evaluation project. The objective of this project has been to evaluate a scientific workstation. When new computing systems appeared that exhibited the capabilities necessary to do scientific computing work at relatively low equipment cost, both the staff of the Argonne scientific divisions and we (the Computing Services staff) wished to know more about the equipment and the vendor claims.

A mathematical model is presented for flow-induced vibration of the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) liquid oxygen (LOX) posts. The definition of the critical flow velocity is addressed, and detuning of the vibrations of the LOX posts is discussed. Nonuniform flow distributions in the axial and transverse directions are examined briefly, followed by upstream turbulence. The dependence of response upon post location is addressed briefly. Scruton's number, a mass-damping parameter, is defined and its value for the SSME LOX posts is given. Also discussed are the interaction of turbulent buffeting and fluidelastic instability, post arrangement, and swirlers around the posts. The differences are discussed between the quasi-static, the analytical, and the general analytical mathematical models.

This report contains the proceedings of the workshop which was held at Argonne during the period May 14 through June 15, 1984. The report contains 22 articles, authored or co-authored by the participants in the workshop. Topics covered at the workshop included the asymptotics of eigenvalues and eigenfunctions; qualitative and quantitative aspects of Sturm-Liouville eigenvalue problems with discrete and continuous spectra; polar, indefinite, and non-self-adjoint Sturm-Liouville eigenvalue problems; and systems of differential equations of Sturm-Liouville type.

Report on solving problems with shell-and-tube heat exchangers resulting from recent trends toward higher flowrates, larger size, and optimized designs.

Typical industrial shell-and-tube heat exchanger configurations are investigated systematically for the occurrence of potentially damaging tube vibration as a function of flow-rate. In continuation of an ongoing experimental program, results from shell-side water flow tests of twenty-two additional test exchanger configurations are reported. The test cases include single- and double-segmentally baffled tube bundles having various combinations of triangular and square tube layout patterns, baffle arrangements, and baffle edge orientations. All layouts had a tube pitch-to-diameter ratio of 1.25. The testing focused on identification of the lowest critical flow-rates to initiate fluid-elastic instability and/or large amplitude tube motion and the location within the bundle of the tubes which first experience these responses. The threshold flow-rates are determined from a combination of methods based on sensory observations, vibration amplitude data, and frequency response information. Instability criteria are preliminarily evaluated. Also reported are the measured overall shell-side pressure drop and the incremental pressure drops across sections of the exchanger for all configurations.

This report describes a quasi-Eulerian method which has been incorporated into the ICECO code to study slug impact and coolant spillage problems in a fast-reactor accident. The quasi-Eulerian cells used in this method are located on the tops of the regular cells. The axial size of the quasi-Eulerian cells varies according to the gap generated at the reactor head-wall junction. Penetration holes on the cover head are modeled on the top center of the quasi-Eulerian cells. Fluid variables in these quasi-Eulerian cells also satisfy all the conservation equations. Since the boundary pressures above the quasi-Eulerian cells are determined by the movement of the moving grid, the velocity of the cover head is also included in the pressure iteration. Several examples are given to compare the results obtained by this quasi-Eulerian method with the existing experimental excursion data, as well as with the analytical and the other code solutions.

The low-cycle fatigue behavior of Type 304 stainless steel has been investigated at 593 degrees C in a dynamic vacuum of better than 1.3 x 10⁻⁶ Pa (10⁻⁸ torr). The results concerning the effects of strain range, strain rate and tensile hold time on fatigue life are presented and compared with results of similar tests performed in air and sodium environments. Under continuous symmetrical cycling, fatigue life is significantly longer in vacuum than in air; in the low strain range regime, the effect of sodium on fatigue life appears to be similar to that of vacuum. Strain rate (or frequency) strongly influences fatigue life in both air and vacuum. In compressive hold-time tests, the effect of environment on life is similar to that in a continuous-cycling test. However, tensile hold times are nearly as damaging in vacuum as in air. Thus, at least for austenitic stainless steels, the influence of the environment of fatigue life appears to depend on the loading waveshape.

Three-dimensional finite-element models for the treatment of the nonlinear, transient response of a fast breeder reactor's above-core structures are described. For purposes of treating arbitrarily large rotations, node orientations are described by unit vectors and the deformable elements are treated by a corotational formulation in which the coordinate system is embedded in the elements. Deformable elements may be connected either to nodes directly or through rigid bodies. The time integration is carried out by the Newmark beta method. These features have been incorporated to form the finite-element program SAFE/RAS (Safety Analysis by Finite Elements/Reactor Analysis and Safety Division). Computations are presented for semianalytical comparisons, simple scoping studies, and Stanford Research Institute (SRI) test comparisons.

Nondestructive assay (NDA) methods, principally passive gamma measurements and active neutron interrogation, have been studied for their safeguards effectiveness and programmatic impact as tools for making inventories of highly enriched uranium fast critical assembly fuel plates. It was concluded that no NDA method is the sole answer to the safeguards problem, that each of those emphasized here has its place in an integrated safeguards system, and that each has minimum facility impact.

We describe here a theorem prover constructed from the facilities provided by Logic Machine Architecture (LMA). This program is not part of LMA itself, but illustrates the level of inference-based system which can be constructed from the LMA package of tools. It is a clause-based theorem prover supporting a wide variety of techniques which have proven valuable over the years in a long-running automated deduction research project. In addition, it is designed to present a convenient, interactive interface to its user which includes a number of useful utility commands.

Annual report of the Argonne National Laboratory Radiological and Environmental Research Division regarding activities related to molecular physics and chemistry. This report discusses areas in the physics and chemistry of atoms and molecules related to their interactions with photons, electrons, and other external agents such as energetic ions.

Annual report of the Argonne National Laboratory Radiological and Environmental Research Division regarding activities related to molecular physics and chemistry.

Quarterly report of the Argonne National Laboratory Chemical Engineering Division regarding activities related to properties and handling of radioactive materials, operation of nuclear reactors, and other relevant research.

Quarterly report discussing fuel cell research and development work at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). This report describes efforts directed toward (1) improving understanding of component behavior in molten carbonate fuel cells and (2) developing alternative concepts for components.

Intergranular stress-corrosion crack (IGSCC) propagation rates were measured in three heats of sensitized Type 304 stainless steel (SS) as a function of sensitization in an environment of high-purity water with 8 ppm oxygen, using a fracture mechanics approach. Specimens were sensitized using controlled furnace heat treatments and the degree of sensitization was measured by the electrochemical potentiokinetic reactivation (EPR) method. Active loading tests were performed on standard specimens over a range of intensities. Crack lengths were determined by compilance measurements using in-situ high-temperature clip gage or LVDT methods, optical metallography on the side faces of the specimen, and fractography of the cracked surface after completion of the tests. The optical metallography measurements did not provide useful estimates of crack lengths, because large variations in IGSCC propagation across the thickness of the specimens occurred. The effects of the degree of sensitization on the IGSCC propagation rate are obscured by the data scatter. However, it seems clear that these variables do not lead to order-of-magnitude changes in the crack propagation rate.

The research program in nuclear physics in the Argonne Physics Division contributes to most of the major questions in this scientific discipline. The development of the superconducting rf linac technology has led to the ATLAS project now under construction, and is the major focus of the effort in heavy-ion research. The investigation of pion interactions in nuclei using the LAMPF facility helps delineate the dominant aspects of pion propagation and interactions in nuclei. Experiments on the weak interaction in nuclei and on other fundamental symmetries are being carried out with a number of tools. The theoretical effort in nuclear structure, nuclear matter and dynamics, and reaction theory is closely coupled to many aspects of the experimental programs.

A thorough review is provided on nuclear fuels for steady-state thermal research and test reactors. The review was conducted to provide a documented data base in support of recent advances in research and test reactor fuel development, manufacture, and demonstration in response to current US policy on availability of enriched uranium. The review covers current fabrication practice, fabrication development efforts, irradiation performance, and properties affecting fuel utilization, including thermal conductivity, specific heat, density, thermal expansion, corrosion, phase stability, mechanical properties, and fission-product release. The emphasis is on US activities, but major work in Europe and elsewhere is included. The standard fuel types discussed are the U-Al alloy, UZrH/sub x/, and UO2 rod fuels. Among new fuels, those given major emphasis include H3Si-Al dispersion and UO2 caramel plate fuels.

A framework for a method to predict fluid-elastic instability in heat exchanger tube bundles is presented. The method relies on a three-dimensional, cylindrical coordinate, thermal-hydraulic analysis code to obtain a representation of the three-dimensional flow distribution within the heat exchanger. With this information, local cross-flow velocities corresponding to each tube in the exchanger are obtained by interpolation and resultant cross-flow velocity distributions are computed. With a knowledge of the vibration mode shapes and frequencies, reduced effective cross-flow velocities are then computed for each tube. A comparison with experimental results shows excellent agreement: the tubes with high values of predicted reduced effective cross-flow velocity are the same tubes that first experience fluid-elastic instability in the flow tests and vibrate most violently; also, the simulation correctly predicts that the tubes directly exposed to the flow from the inlet nozzle have a low potential for fluid-elastic instability. Very good agreement is also shown in the comparison of the predicted reduced effective cross-flow velocities with the critical value obtained from a design guide. In summary, the feasibility of developing a heat exchanger tube vibration prediction method, based on a computer simulation of flow distribution, is demonstrated. Such a method would have immediate application in …

This report discusses the design, production, and evaluation of clad uranium-alloy targets that function as spallation neutron sources in the ZING-P' and IPNS-I facilities with a pulsed (10 to 30 Hz), 500-MeV proton beam. The methodology and results of theoretical nuclear-particle transport, heat transport, and stress analyses that were used in the development of a design for the targets are described. The production of a zirconium-clad uranium-alloy cylinder for ZING-P' and Zircaloy-2-clad uranium-alloy discs for IPNS-I is discussed with particular attention to the procedural details. The theoretical analyses were verified by measuring the thermal and mechanical response of the clad uranium under conditions designed to simulate the operations of the pulsed-neutron sources.

Necessary and sufficient conditions are given so that the Sobolev-type partial differential equations generate a contraction semigroup. It is shown that any nonlinear contraction from L/sup 1/(R) to itself that preserves the integral and commutes with translations satisfies maximum and minimum principles. This lemma is applied to the solution operator S/sub t/ to give necessary and sufficient conditions that S/t/ satisfy a maximum principle, despite the dispersive nature. Sufficient conditions are given so that the solutions converge, as nu and beta tend to zero, to the entropy solution of the conservation law. A larger class of monotone finite-difference schemes for the numerical solution of the conservation law motivated by finite-difference discretizations of the Sobolev equations, is introduced, and convergence results are proved for methods in this class. The methods analyzed include some that were previously used to approximate the solution of a linear waterflood problem in petroleum engineering.