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A Study of a Surrogate Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Fuel Element

D.S. Tucker, A. Preston, N. Jered, A. Cunningham

Journal of Ceramic Science and Technology, Vol. 14, No. 2 (2023), pp. 49-54

DOI: 10.4416/JCST2023-00001

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Abstract

A surrogate fuel, zirconium carbide/titanium nitride, has been prepared using a simple method to obtain a more uniform distribution of titanium nitride in the zirconium carbide matrix. Powders were sintered using spark plasma sintering at 2 023 K and 2 123 K using a modified sintering profile. This resulted in a fairly uniform distribution of titanium nitride in the zirconium carbide matrix with a density of 95 % of theoretical at 2 123 K. Scanning electron microscopy, indentation hardness and X-ray diffraction results are given.

Keywords

Carbide, nitride, spark plasma sintering, X-ray diffraction, propulsion fuel element

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