Abstract
Silicon carbide (SiC) is a primary candidate for passive irradiation temperature monitoring, and continuous dilatometry (CD) has been proposed as the key method for extracting irradiation temperatures from SiC thermometry samples. The CD method was evaluated to determine the sensitivity of the technique to the analysis procedure, as well as its accuracy and precision. Analysis found that the CD method had a ±20 °C sensitivity to the algorithm used to determine the irradiation temperatures. Comparison of the CD method with the continuous length change method for SiC thermometry showed CD is a more viable method of extracting irradiation temperatures. A comparison of irradiation temperatures determined by CD with those from active thermocouple measurements further validated the CD method for accurately and precisely determining irradiation temperatures in materials test reactor irradiations.
