Abstract
A parallel is drawn between polycrystalline graphite and uranium. The elastic, thermal cycling, and irradiation creep strains are all dependent on crystal anisotropy. Nonlinearity of the stress—strain curves is shown to be a property of geometry rather than of the materials. The thermal cycling and irradiation creep strains have their expected values in uranium, but are ten times less in graphite. It is suggested that in graphite the appropriate unit of growth is not the single crystal but a small group of crystals bounded by Mrozowski cracks.

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