Metallurgy & Materials Group
Organization
Mandate
The Metallurgy & Materials Group (MMG) of IGCAR has been formed with a mandate to carry out broad based research and development activities that are targeted towards indigenization of materials design, making and component fabrication, for application in Indian Fast reactor Program. Accordingly, the activities of MMG encompass a wide spectrum which currently spans across five distinct divisions, catering collectively to material synthesis, structure, microstructure, property characterization; material forming ; corrosion and degradation under in-reactor service; failure analysis; non destructive evaluation and quality assurance monitoring; post irradiation examination etc. MMG at IGCAR nurtures a mix of both basic and applied research programs, and is equipped with state of the research facilities on multiple fronts. It also has active collaborative R&D links with many eminent research institutions in India and abroad on a variety of reactor and high temperature materials research related issues. Many research scholars pursue their research ambitions under MMG; and quite few post doctoral researchers also work at MMG for furthering their professional knowledge base.
Highlights
(Left) SEM image showing chemical interaction in SS316L clad of ferroboron test irradiation capsule due to Li formed by (n, α) reaction (Right) XRD profile showing Fe-Li phase in clad ID
Atomic scale chemical imaging of a dispersoid in dispersion strengthened 617 ODS alloy: (a) STEM-HAADF image of the dispersoid in Ni base SA matrix, (b) EDS chemical imaging of YAlO dispersoid, (c) at% of Al across the dispersoid.
Identification of chromium carbides and borides in additively manufactured Deloro50® components
Precipitation of chromium carbides and borides in Laser deposited Deloro50® on SS 304L comprises grain boundary precipitation on the SS side of the boundary due to faster diffusion of carbon and boron, along with fine precipitates of chromium boride along the grain boundary
Studies on thermophysical properties of materials through experiment and modelling
Expertise
Glovebox adaptation of characterisation instruments for post-irradiation examination
Steel components plasma nitrided to case depths of up to 50µm
Tungsten carbide pellets, 99.8% dense prepared by spark plasma sintering
Achievements
Phase transformations in Steels: determination of TTT / CCT diagrams and deformation tests using a Quench deformation dilatometer
