Use of the Carbon Ceramic Experimental Test Apparatus to Validate the HTTF Design

Abstract

Oregon State University is building an experimental test facility, which will provide data for the validation of very high temperature gas reactor codes. This facility has been designed to represent a 1:4 length and radial scale representation of VHTR. The thermal conductivity and diffusivity scaling shows that a low thermal conductivity ceramic material is needed to provide the appropriate temperature profile through the core region. To ensure that the thermal stresses induced from heating the blocks will not cause cracking and failure, work has been done to determine the ceramics’ ability to endure the thermal and structural loading.