A qualitative theory for cake formation in ThO2 slurries is presented. The sphere formation which occurs in "Standard" slurry can be explained on the same basis. The irregular and unpredictable yield strength is easily fitted into the theory. On the basis of this theory, the writer has been led to the conclusion that only colloidally stable slurries, or slurries with crystallites or comminution-resistant particles which are large enough to overcome colloidal effects (probably larger than 0.1u) can be used with assurance in the ThO2 reactor system. This conclusion holds for 300 gm/kg slurries as well as for more concentrated mixtures.

In analyzing stresses, deflections, and forces in piping and certain structural systems, it is useful to have a set of equations giving the deflections at any point of a curved beam in terms of the various loads acting on the beam. This technical report presents the deflection equations for a curved circular-arc beam of variable length. The cases treated include in-plane and out-of-plane bending due to forces and moments applied to the end of the beam in three principal directions, and uniformly distributed loads applied along the beam in these three directions. Deflections were calculated by the strain energy method using Castigliano's theorem.