Abstract:
AN IMPROVED HOUSING FOR A HIGH PRESSURE CHAMBER IS DESCRIBED. THE PRIMARY RESISTANCE TO RADIAL PRESSURES DEVELOPED IN THE HIGH PRESSURE CHAMBER IS PROVIDED BY A HOUSING WHICH IS SPLIT INTO A NUMBER OF SEPARATE PIECES HAVING GAPS BETWEEN, THE GAPS BEING INCLUDED IN ONE OR
MORE CLOSED SPACES FILLED WITH PRESSURE SUPPORTING MATERIAL, I.E. MATERIAL WHICH ACTS AS A LIQUID AT HIGH PRESSURE, AND WHICH IS PRESSURIZED AS THE PRESSURE IN THE HIGH PRESSURE CHAMBER IS INCREASED.
Abstract:
A method and apparatus for generating pressures wherein a highly anisotropic pyrolytic graphite body having its highest coefficient of linear thermal expansion in the direction of an axis thereof is confined in a pressing vessel together with a compactible material which is positioned along said axis. Heating of the anisotropic body expands the same along said axis to compress the compactible material. The pressing vessel is composed of a material having a low coefficient of thermal expansion relative to the anisotropic body. Preferably, the pressing vessel is composed of isotropic graphite, so that high pressures can be generated by furnacing the entire assembly at temperatures as high as 2200* C.