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Dr. K.L. Murty and Walid Mohamed at North Carolina State University want to see how radiation affects nanograin materials, which are composed of many high-energy grain boundaries. The research, carried out at the Advanced Test Reactor at the Idaho National Laboratory, could carry important implications for the nuclear power industry.
The Advanced Test Reactor provides a unique facility for performing tests on materials and fuels that will be used in high-radiation environments, such as nuclear power reactors, to see how the materials perform in these radiation environments. By exposing the materials to high-energy neutrons, researchers can duplicate decades of exposure in weeks or months.
“If radiation-produced defects cannot survive … then materials will be stronger or more radiation-resistant,” Murty said. “That is what we are after.”
The original idea for the research came from a project Walid was performing for a course taught by Murty, a professor of nuclear engineering. Walid, a doctoral student in nuclear engineering, was surprised to find relatively few published papers exploring how radiation affects nanograin-structured materials.
The two began thinking about the study, which will serve as Walid’s doctoral dissertation.
Murty, the lead researcher, has a rich and varied background in the field. He received master’s and doctoral degrees in both India and the United States, and accumulated several years of industrial experience at the Lynchburg Research Center of Babcock and Wilcox and the Westinghouse Research and Development Center. He has been a faculty member at NC State since 1981. Murty is a fellow of the American Society for Metals International and American Nuclear Society (ANS), and is a recipient of many awards including the ANS Mishima award for outstanding research in nuclear fuels and materials.
Walid received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nuclear engineering from Alexandria University in Egypt. In the fall of 2005, he came to NC State on an assistantship to earn his doctoral degree. Since his research is directly related to materials science, he is also currently completing his master’s degree in materials science and engineering.
The researchers hope that their work will provide both educational and practical results. Their immediate goal is simply to understand the way that the metals with very small grain sizes or with a large fraction of grain boundaries behave under radiation.
“If we can characterize (these materials), then we will understand what is happening once these special materials are exposed to radiation,” Murty said. “Then we may be able to come up with better and more advanced materials for nuclear applications.”
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