A High-Temperature Installation for Measuring the Coefficient of Linear Expansion

A high-temperature (up to 1600°C) installation for measuring the coefficient of linear expansion (CLE) using a relative method is described. The measuring unit is installed in a protective glove box, which allowed measurements to be performed on samples irradiated in a reactor. Changes in the length of the sample during heating were recorded with a clock-type indicator head with an accuracy of 1 μm with the measurement range of 0–10 mm. The installation was used to determine the values of swelling of irradiated samples during high-temperature annealing and to obtain the values of the CLE of promising reactor materials. The average relative measurement error is 8–11%.