NEUP provides top engineering faculty and their students a means to continue progressive nuclear research activities by providing large-scale grants.

The first of Wharry’s two projects is titled, “Microstructure-Based Benchmarking for Nano/Microscale Tension and Ductility Testing of Irradiated Steels” and will receive $800,000 in collaboration with Anter El-Azab (Purdue School of Materials Engineering) and researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The primary project outcome will be a set of recommended guidelines for nano/microscale mechanical testing, which utilize miniature specimens as compared to standard fracture testing specimens such as Charpy or compact tension geometries. If Wharry’s team can show that these miniature specimens produce consistent results as the standard-sized specimens, the finding will lead to unprecedented reductions in the time and cost for qualifying materials for in-reactor service and will ensure consistency of methods and validity of results. This project expands upon nano/microscale mechanical testing techniques that Wharry’s graduate students have been developing over the past three years. “It’s extremely rewarding to see the students’ work valued as having the potential to set new standards and guide best practices for nuclear materials research,” Wharry said.

Wharry’s group has developed this fracture testing method, which utilizes a specimen ~250,000 times smaller than a standard fracture test. The group will refine this approach through NEUP funding to improve the efficiency of nuclear materials qualification. Video is from an irradiated steel, taken by graduate student Kayla Yano.

The second project, “Cold Spray Repair & Mitigation of Stress Corrosion Cracks in Spent Nuclear Fuel Dry Storage Canisters” will receive $799,982. This will further develop cold spray – a technique in which metallic particles are accelerated onto a substrate to produce a filling or coating – as an attractive solution for the repair of existing stress corrosion cracks (SCC) and mitigation of potential SCC in spent nuclear fuel storage canisters. These repair and mitigation processes are necessary to ensure long-term integrity, security, and regulatory compliance of spent nuclear fuel storage. For this project, Wharry will work with researchers from Sandia National Laboratory and VRC Metal Systems, and will expand Purdue’s nuclear materials experimental capabilities to include SCC testing. Wharry says she is especially excited for this project because, “It will broaden our research into nuclear waste storage, which will be a grand challenge for the industry for many years to come.”

The DOE is awarding $47 million through its Nuclear Energy University Program to support 63 university-led nuclear energy research and development projects in 29 states.