ASTM C1783-15 - 1.9.2015
 
Significance and Use

4.1 Composite materials consist by definition of a reinforcement phase in a matrix phase. In addition, carbon-carbon composites often contain measurable porosity which interacts with the reinforcement and matrix. The composition and structure of the C-C composite are commonly tailored for a specific application with detailed performance requirements. The tailoring involves the selection of the reinforcement fibers (composition, properties, morphology, etc), the matrix (composition, properties, and morphology), the composite structure (component fractions, reinforcement architecture, porosity structure, microstructure, etc.), and the fabrication conditions (forming, assembly, forming, densification, finishing, etc.). The final engineering properties (physical, mechanical, thermal, electrical, etc.) can be tailored across a broad range with major directional anisotropy in the properties.

4.2 Specifications for specific C-C composite components covering materials, material processing, and fabrication procedures are developed to provide a basis for fabricating reproducible and reliable structures. Designer/users/producers have to write C-C composite specifications for specific applications with well-defined composition, structure, properties and processing requirements. But with the extensive breadth of selection in composition, structure, and properties in C-C composites, it is virtually impossible to write a "generic" composite specification applicable to any and all C-C composite applications that has the same type of structure and details of the commonly-used specifications for metal alloys. This guide is written to assist the designer/user/producer in developing a comprehensive and detailed material specification for a specific CMC application/component with a particular focus on nuclear applications.

4.3 The purpose of this guide is to provide guidance on how to specify the constituents, the structure, the desired engineering properties (physical, chemical, mechanical, durability, etc), methods of testing, manufacturing process requirements, the quality assurance requirements, and traceability for C-C composites for nuclear reactor applications. The resulting specification may be used for the design, production, evaluation, and qualification of C-C composites for structures in nuclear reactors.

4.4 The guide is applicable to C-C composites with flat plate, rectangular bar, round rod, and round tube geometries.

4.5 This guide may also be applicable to the development of specifications for C-C composites used for other structural applications, discounting the nuclear-specific chemical purity and irradiation behavior requirements.

 
1. Scope

1.1 This document is a guide to preparing material specifications for fiber reinforced carbon-carbon (C-C) composite structures (flat plates, rectangular bars, round rods, and tubes) manufactured specifically for structural components in nuclear reactor core applications. The carbon-carbon composites consist of carbon/graphite fibers (from PAN, pitch, or rayon precursors) in a carbon/graphite matrix produced by liquid infiltration/pyrolysis and/or by chemical vapor infiltration.

1.2 This guide provides direction and guidance for the development of a material specification for a specific C-C composite component or product for nuclear reactor applications. The guide considers composite constituents and structure, physical and chemical properties, mechanical properties, thermal properties, performance durability, methods of testing, materials and fabrication processing, and quality assurance. The C-C composite materials considered here would be suitable for nuclear reactor core applications where neutron irradiation-induced damage and dimensional changes are a significant design consideration. (1-4)2

1.3 The component specification is to be developed by the designer/purchaser/user. The designer/purchaser/user shall define and specify in detail any and all application-specific requirements for necessary design, manufacturing, and performance factors of the ceramic composite component. This guide for material specifications does not directly address component/product-specific issues, such as geometric tolerances, permeability, bonding, sealing, attachment, and system integration.

1.4 This guide is specifically focused on C-C composite components and structures with flat panel, solid rectangular bar, solid round rod, or tubular geometries.

1.5 This specification may also be applicable to C-C composites used for other structural applications discounting the nuclear-specific chemical purity and irradiation behavior factors.

1.6 Units—The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as standard. No other units of measurement are included in this standard.

1.7 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.

 
2. Referenced Documents

D6507-19(2025)

Standard Practice for Fiber Reinforcement Orientation Codes for Composite Materials

D6671-01

Standards Test Method for Mixed Mode I-Mode II Interlaminar Fracture Toughness of Unidirectional Fiber Reinforced Polymer Matrix Composites

D7136

Test Method for Measuring the Damage Resistance of a Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Matrix Composite to a Drop-Weight Impact Event

D7137

Test Method for Compressive Residual Strength Properties of Damaged Polymer Matrix Composite Plates

C577-25

Standard Test Method for Permeability of Refractories

C611-21

Standard Test Method for Electrical Resistivity of Manufactured Carbon and Graphite Articles at Room Temperature

C709-09

Standard Terminology Relating to Manufactured Carbon and Graphite (Withdrawn 2017)

C714-23

Standard Guide for Thermal Diffusivity of Carbon and Graphite by Thermal Pulse Method

C838-16(2023)

Standard Test Method for Bulk Density of As-Manufactured Carbon and Graphite Shapes

C1039-85(2020)e1

Standard Test Methods for Apparent Porosity, Apparent Specific Gravity, and Bulk Density of Graphite Electrodes (Includes all amendments and changes 12/7/2020).

C1179-26

Standard Test Method for Oxidation Mass Loss of Manufactured Carbon and Graphite Materials in Air

C1198-20(2026)

Standard Test Method for Dynamic Young’s Modulus, Shear Modulus, and Poisson’s Ratio for Advanced Ceramics by Sonic Resonance

C1259-21(2026)

Standard Test Method for Dynamic Young’s Modulus, Shear Modulus, and Poisson’s Ratio for Advanced Ceramics by Impulse Excitation of Vibration

C1274-12(2026)

Standard Test Method for Advanced Ceramic Specific Surface Area by Physical Adsorption

C1275-18(2025)

Standard Test Method for Monotonic Tensile Behavior of Continuous Fiber-Reinforced Advanced Ceramics with Solid Rectangular Cross-Section Test Specimens at Ambient Temperature

C1291-25

Standard Test Method for Elevated Temperature Tensile Creep Strain, Creep Strain Rate, and Creep Time to Failure for Monolithic Advanced Ceramics

C1341-13(2023)

Standard Test Method for Flexural Properties of Continuous Fiber-Reinforced Advanced Ceramic Composites

C1358-18(2025)

Standard Test Method for Monotonic Compressive Strength Testing of Continuous Fiber-Reinforced Advanced Ceramics with Solid Rectangular Cross Section Test Specimens at Ambient Temperatures

C1359-18(2025)

Standard Test Method for Monotonic Tensile Strength Testing of Continuous Fiber-Reinforced Advanced Ceramics With Solid Rectangular Cross Section Test Specimens at Elevated Temperatures

C1360-17(2025)

Standard Practice for Constant-Amplitude, Axial, Tension-Tension Cyclic Fatigue of Continuous Fiber-Reinforced Advanced Ceramics at Ambient Temperatures

C1425-19(2026)

Standard Test Method for Interlaminar Shear Strength of 1D and 2D Continuous Fiber-Reinforced Advanced Ceramics at Elevated Temperatures

C1470-20(2026)

Standard Guide for Testing the Thermal Properties of Advanced Ceramics

C1525-18(2024)

Standard Test Method for Determination of Thermal Shock Resistance for Advanced Ceramics by Water Quenching

D7219-26

Standard Specification for Isotropic and Near-isotropic Nuclear Graphites

E1309-00

Standard Guide for Identification of Fiber-Reinforced Polymer-Matrix Composite Materials in Databases

E1461-13(2022)

Standard Test Method for Thermal Diffusivity by the Flash Method

E1922-04

Standard Test Method for Translaminar Fracture Toughness of Laminated and Pultruded Polymer Matrix Composite Materials

Surface Texture (Surface Roughness, Waviness, and Lay) Available from American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), ASME International Headquarters, Two Park Ave., New York, NY 10016-5990, http://www.asme.org.

D7542-21

Standard Test Method for Air Oxidation of Carbon and Graphite in the Kinetic Regime

E6-25

Standard Terminology Relating to Methods of Mechanical Testing

E111-17(2025)e1

Standard Test Method for Young’s Modulus, Tangent Modulus, and Chord Modulus (Includes all amendments and changes 12/11/2025).

E132-17(2025)e1

Standard Test Method for Poisson’s Ratio at Room Temperature (Includes all amendments and changes 12/11/2025).

E143-20

Standard Test Method for Shear Modulus at Room Temperature

E228-22

Standard Test Method for Linear Thermal Expansion of Solid Materials With a Push-Rod Dilatometer

E261-16(2021)

Standard Practice for Determining Neutron Fluence, Fluence Rate, and Spectra by Radioactivation Techniques

E289-25

Standard Test Method for Linear Thermal Expansion of Rigid Solids with Interferometry

E408-13(2025)

Standard Test Methods for Total Normal Emittance of Surfaces Using Inspection-Meter Techniques

E423-71(2025)

Standard Test Method for Normal Spectral Emittance at Elevated Temperatures of Nonconducting Specimens

E1269-24

Standard Test Method for Determining Specific Heat Capacity by Differential Scanning Calorimetry

E2586-19(2024)

Standard Practice for Calculating and Using Basic Statistics

CMH-17

C559-16(2020)

Standard Test Method for Bulk Density by Physical Measurements of Manufactured Carbon and Graphite Articles

C561-23

Standard Test Method for Ash in a Graphite Sample

C625-15(2021)

Standard Practice for Reporting Irradiation Results on Graphite

C769-15

Standard Test Method for Sonic Velocity in Manufactured Carbon and Graphite Materials for Use in Obtaining an Approximate Value of Young's Modulus

C816-15

Standard Test Method for Sulfur Content in Graphite by Combustion-Iodometric Titration Method

C1233-15(2021)

Standard Practice for Determining Equivalent Boron Contents of Nuclear Materials

C1239-26a

Standard Practice for Reporting Uniaxial Strength Data and Estimating Weibull Distribution Parameters for Advanced Ceramics (Includes all amendments and changes 8/11/2026).

C1292-22

Standard Test Method for Shear Strength of Continuous Fiber-Reinforced Advanced Ceramics at Ambient Temperatures

C1337-17(2025)

Standard Test Method for Creep and Creep Rupture of Continuous Fiber-Reinforced Advanced Ceramics Under Tensile Loading at Elevated Temperatures

D3529-D3529M-97

Standard Test Method for Matrix Solids Content and Matrix Content of Composite Prepreg

D3800-22

Standard Test Method for Density of High-Modulus Fibers

D3878-26

Standard Terminology for Composite Materials

D4018-23

Standard Test Methods for Properties of Continuous Filament Carbon and Graphite Fiber Tows

D4284-25

Standard Test Method for Determining Pore Volume Distribution of Catalysts and Catalyst Carriers by Mercury Intrusion Porosimetry

D4850-23

Standard Terminology Relating to Fabrics and Fabric Test Methods

D5528-13

Standard Test Method for Mode I Interlaminar Fracture Toughness of Unidirectional Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Matrix Composites

D5600-22

Standard Test Method for Trace Metals in Petroleum Coke by Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES)

D5766

Test Method for Open-Hole Tensile Strength of Polymer Matrix Composite Laminates

C1683-10(2024)

Standard Practice for Size Scaling of Tensile Strengths Using Weibull Statistics for Advanced Ceramics

C1468-19a(2026)

Standard Test Method for Transthickness Tensile Strength of Continuous Fiber-Reinforced Advanced Ceramics at Ambient Temperature (Includes all amendments and changes 6/17/2026).

C1557-20(2026)

Standard Test Method for Tensile Strength and Young´s Modulus of Fibers

D2766-95(2000)

Standard Test Method for Specific Heat of Liquids and Solids

D3171-22

Standard Test Methods for Constituent Content of Composite Materials

C242-21

Standard Terminology of Ceramic Whitewares and Related Products

D5961

Test Method for Bearing Response of Polymer Matrix Composite Laminates

D6484

Test Method for Open-Hole Compressive Strength of Polymer Matrix Composite Laminates