Abstract
Models to describe the damage and fracture behaviors of the interface between the fuel foil and cladding in UMo/Zr monolithic fuel plates were established and numerically implemented. The effects of the interfacial cohesive strength and cohesive energy on the irradiation-induced thermal–mechanical behaviors of fuel plates were investigated. The results indicated that for heterogeneously irradiated fuel plates: (1) interfacial damage and failure were predicted to be initiated near the fuel foil corner with higher fission densities, accompanied by the formation of a large gap after interface failure, which was consistent with some experimental observations; high tensile stresses in the fuel foil occurred near the edges of the failed interface, attributed to through-thickness cracking of the fuel foil, as found in some post-irradiation examinations; (2) the cohesive strength and cohesive energy of the interface both influenced the in-pile evolution behaviors of fuel plates; a lower cohesive strength or cohesive energy resulted in faster interfacial damage; (3) after interface fracture, the thickness of the whole plate increased to a greater degree (by ~ 20%) than that of the samples without interfacial damage, which was attributed to the locally enhanced Mises stresses and the nearby creep deformations around the cracked interface. This study provided a theoretical basis for assessing failure in fuel elements.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Xiang-Zhe Kong, Feng Yan, Xiao-Bin Jian and Shu-Rong Ding. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Xiang-Zhe Kong and Shu-Rong Ding revised the submitted manuscripts. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 12132005, 11772095, 12102094) and the Foundation from Science and Technology on Reactor System Design Technology Laboratory.
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Kong, XZ., Jian, XB., Yan, F. et al. Modeling of irradiation-induced damage and failure behaviors of fuel foil/cladding interface in UMo/Zr monolithic fuel plates. NUCL SCI TECH 33, 54 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41365-022-01046-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41365-022-01046-6