Running Projects

Project Director and PI, "Fabrication of Tungsten-Rhenium Cladding Materials via Spark Plasma Sintering for Ultra-High Temperature Reactor Applications," Department of Energy (FY2009 NE-UP Program), Project Period - 10/1/2009 to 9/30/2012: A number of W-Re alloys will be developed using a combination of high energy ball milling and spark plasma sintering. Microstructures, mechanical properties and thermophysical properties will be evaluated to study their suitability as the cladding materials for space nuclear reactors to be used for space missions to Moon, Mars and beyond. This research will be mainly carried out at the Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CAES), Idaho Falls. Our collaborators in this effort are the Boise State University, Idaho National Laboratory and Center Space Nuclear Research.

Co-PI, "Prediction and Monitoring Systems of Creep-Fracture Behavior of 9Cr-1Mo Steels for Reactor Pressure Vessels," Department of Energy (FY2009 NE-UP Program), Project Period - 10/1/2009 to 9/30/2012: This is a collaborative project with the Mechanical Engineering (PI: Dr. Gabriel Potirniche) and Electrical Engineering at the UI. We have are leading the high temperature creep tests and related microstructural characterization on Grade 91 steels that is being considered as the Reactor Pressure Vessel Materials for the Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) under the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) Program.

PI, "Fabrication of Advanced ODS Alloys Using Field Assisted Sintering," Idaho National Laboratory LDRD (Laboratory-Directed Research and Development), Project Period - 3/18/2010 to 9/30/2010: This is a collaborative project with the Idaho National Laboratory (lead) and Boise State University. In this project, we are developing advanced ODS alloys using the mechanical alloying followed by the field assisted sintering techniques.

PI, "Mechanical Properties of Nuclear Fuels," supported by the INL / Battelle Energy Alliance, Project Period - 8/25/2008 to 9/30/2011: Research is being carried out by a Ph.D. student at the Idaho National Laboratory. He is using a variety of mechanical characterization techniques to irradiate low enrichment uranium-based fuel materials, fuel cladding materials, and evaluating their microstructural characteristics and mechanical properties before and after irradiation using various test techniques.

Co-PI, "Influence of Fast Neutron Irradiation on the Mechanical Properties and Microstructure of Nanostructured Metals/Alloys," ongoing project, UI is a collaborator in the NC State-led team for the first ATR National Scientific User Facility (NSUF) grant in April 2008. Under this program, our team will carry out neutron irradiation experiments on nanocrystalline materials and nanostructured steels to various neutron doses at the ATR facility of INL. Post-irradiation examination will be carried out onsite at INL, and cold samples will be studied at the universities.

Concluded Projects

Project Director and PI, "A Comparative Study of Welded ODS Cladding Materials for AFCI/GNEP Applications," Department of Energy (Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative), Project period - 10/1/2008 to 12/30/2010, In this study, we are collaborating with three other universities (BSU, MS&T and NCSU), Idaho National Laboratory and Centerline, Inc. We are performing solid state joining (friction stir welding and pressure resistance welding) of various oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) alloys and utilizing several characterization techniques to study the weldability behavior of these alloys. We acquired a pressure resistance welding machine through this grant at the Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CAES), Idaho Falls. We gratefully acknowledge the Department of Energy for supporting this research effort through grant # DE-FG07-08ID14925.

PI, "Advanced Nanotube-Reinforced Metal Matrix Composites via Mechanical Milling," supported by the NASA-Idaho EPSCoR Collaboration Grant, Project period: 8/1/2008 to 7/31/2009. In this research, we are trying to incorporate multi-walled nanotubes in light metals through high energy ball milling process and develop research collaboration with NASA researchers.

PI, "Fuel Fabrication Using Friction Bonding Process to Support the RERTR Program," supported by the INL / BEA, Project Period: 5/15/2008 to 5/31/2009: Research was carried out to optimize the friction bonding process employed in the development monolithic fuel fabrication.

PI, "Acquisition of a Simultaneous Thermal Analyzer for GNEP (Global Nuclear Energy Partnership) Research and Training at University of Idaho," Department of Energy, Project Period: 8/30/2007-8/29/2008.

An STA equipment was procured from NETZSCH. With this instrument, one can perform very high temperature (up to 1773 K) DSC, DTA and TGA (thermogravimetric analysis) experiments on a variety of materials under a controlled atmosphere. The heating and cooling rates are programmable and the data acquisition system is fully automated. This system was used for thermal analysis of advanced cladding and structural materials. We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the US Department of Energy through the grant DE-FG07-07ID14873 for carrying out this project.

Click here to see an example of DSC results.

Developing Projects

Dr. Charit is actively seeking research funding in areas involving mechanical alloying of oxide-dispersion strengthened alloys, processing of advanced nanocomposites, high temperature nickel-base superalloys and many other areas. We welcome collaboration with active researchers from the universities, national laboratories and industries.