Irradiation induced dimensional changes in graphite: The influence of sample size

Abstract Dimensional changes in irradiated anisotropic polycrystalline GR-280 graphite samples as measured in the parallel and perpendicular directions of extrusion revealed a mismatch between volume changes measured directly and those calculated using the generally accepted methodology based on length change measurements only. To explain this observation a model is proposed based on polycrystalline substructural elements – domains. Those domains are anisotropic, have different amplitudes of shape-changes with respect to the sample as a whole and are randomly orientated relative to the sample axes of symmetry. This domain model can explain the mismatch observed in experimental data. It is shown that the disoriented domain structure leads to the development of irradiation-induced stresses and to the dependence of the dimensional changes on the sizes of graphite samples chosen for the irradiation experiment. The authors derive the relationship between shape-changes in the finite size samples and the actual shape-changes observable on the macro-scale in irradiated graphite.