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Heng Ban, PhD, PE
R.K. Mellon Professor in Energy
Director, Stephen R. Tritch Nuclear Energy Program
803 Benedum Hall | 3700 O’Hara Street | Pittsburgh, PA 15261 P: 412-624-0325 C: 412-566-9332
heng.ban@pitt.edu
My research is in the broad area of thermal sciences and material performance. The scientific focus is to understand the relationship between material microstructure change and its thermal properties. The work covers experimental and computational material thermophysical properties and measurement science and technology. The research has applications in nuclear fuels and materials, microscale measurements, and hot-cell and/or in-pile sensors and instrumentations. My group also conduct integral and separate effect experiments and modeling for fuel performance and safety assessment.
Irradiation-caused damage to the microstructure of materials has a significant impact on their thermal properties, especially thermal conductivity. For instance, the thermal conductivity of silicon carbide can reduce to 5 percent of its starting value as its microstructure turns into amorphous under irradiation. My lab has developed methods to measure thermophysical properties of ion or neutron irradiated samples. The experimental capabilities promise significant advances in both fundamental and applied contexts. Our research also focuses on energy transfer at material interfaces such as grain boundaries or gas-solid interfaces, which are important in energy applications.
Measurement Science and Technology
Advanced measurement capabilities are essential for creation of new pathways for discovery and innovation. My lab has been developing new measurement techniques for thermophysical properties. These techniques include nano- and micro-scale thermal characterization methods, bench scale techniques, and in-pile sensors and instrumentations. A key element of these techniques is the thermal wave method that relies on phase delays rather than heat flux or temperature values to determine thermal properties. In my lab, the heating can involve an AFM tip, a thin film or fiber joule heating, or an intensity-modulated laser, and the detection can use a variety of options including optical (reflectance or radiometry), spectroscopic (quantum dot fluorescence), or electrical resistance (AFM, or thin film or fiber). A major forcus is optical fiber-based techniques for hot-cell and in-pile applications.
Transient fuel performance plays a key role in safety assessment of design-based accidents for nuclear reactors. Fuel transients involve multiple physical processes, such as fuel fracturing and fragmentation, gap conductance, clad ballooning and rupture, and coolant (water) phase change and transient boiling. We are involved in Idaho National Lab’s transient test reactor (TREAT) program, and in-pile instrumentation effort. We collaborate with multiple universities, national and international labs, and nuclear industry in modeling, separate effect experiments, and reactor experiments.
