The total hemispherical emittance of an oxide film that formed on 6061-T6 aluminum alloy parts in the Tower Shielding Reactor-II at Oak Ridge National Laboratory was measured from 295 to 773 K using an emissometer and/or a calorimeter. The emittance of this film was critically needed for heat transfer calculations in a simulated loss-of-coolant accident of the reactor. X-ray diffraction analysis identified the film as boehmite (Al2O3·H2O), which dehydrated to alumina (Al2O3) upon heating above 473 K. The measured emittances for the alumina film are in excellent agreement with published values for anodized aluminum films and for bulk alumina. Published values of the emittance of boehmite could not be found for comparison, but evidence is presented that some anodization processes for aluminum yield boehmite and not alumina films.

Issue Section:
Research Papers
Keywords:
High-Temperature Phenomena, Radiation, Thermophysical Properties
Topics:
Aluminum alloys, Aluminum, Accidents, Coolants, Heat transfer, Heating, High temperature, Radiation (Physics), X-ray diffraction
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Copyright © 1991
 by The American Society of Mechanical Engineers
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