A Consideration of the Measurement of Macro-Stresses in Non-Metallic Materials

In this paper the challenges associated with the determination of within section macrostresses in the non-metallic materials porous reactor core graphites, glasses and thermally grown oxides, will be considered, with respect to the length-scale over which such measurements are required. Examples are briefly presented to demonstrate the capability of the methods selected, which include deep hole drilling and photoluminescence and Raman spectroscopy. These techniques span the length-scale from micro-metres to tens of millimetres. The measured values will be discussed with respect to the confidence with which these techniques may be applied and hence benefits for life/integrity evaluation.