The coefficient of thermal expansion of nuclear graphite with increasing thermal oxidation

Two grades of nuclear graphite, an isotropic graphite (GCMB) and an anisotropic graphite (PGA), were thermally oxidized to high weight losses. Average values of the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) in the temperature range 20-600 degrees C for GCMB and PGA in the parallel direction were unaffected by thermal oxidation up to 60% and 50% weight loss, respectively. The average CTE values for the PGA samples in the perpendicular direction were also unaffected by oxidation in the range 10-50% weight loss, although a slight increase in the CTE in the early stages of oxidation was observed. A new model based upon a continuous network of material, able to transmit thermal strains, which persists after oxidation, was proposed to explain the insensitivity of the CTE to oxidation. The transmission of thermal strains in the continuous network model was considered as a percolation phenomenon. Application of percolation theory to the effect of thermal oxidation on electrical conductivity of oxidized GCMB graphite suggests that the percolation threshold occurs at very high levels of oxidation that are in excess of 95% weight loss.