基于弥散燃料颗粒开裂的金属基体裂纹特征模型

金属基弥散燃料元件在特殊工况下会发生表面起泡失效。燃料颗粒开裂是金属基体开裂的前提条件,只有当金属基体开裂后元件才会发生表面起泡。燃料颗粒开裂后,裂纹宽度和塑性区长度等裂纹特征决定了金属基体开裂行为。基于弹塑性断裂力学和应力平衡条件,建立了基于弥散燃料颗粒开裂的金属基体裂纹特征模型。计算结果表明：裂纹张开位移随退火温度和燃耗深度的升高而增加;裂纹尖端塑性区长度主要与退火温度相关。裂纹张开位移和塑性区长度的计算结果与实验数据均符合较好,验证了金属基体裂纹特征模型的有效性。     

基于弥散燃料颗粒开裂的金属基体裂纹特征模型

金属基弥散燃料元件在特殊工况下会发生表面起泡失效。燃料颗粒开裂是金属基体开裂的前提条件,只有当金属基体开裂后元件才会发生表面起泡。燃料颗粒开裂后,裂纹宽度和塑性区长度等裂纹特征决定了金属基体开裂行为。基于弹塑性断裂力学和应力平衡条件,建立了基于弥散燃料颗粒开裂的金属基体裂纹特征模型。计算结果表明:裂纹张开位移随退火温度和燃耗深度的升高而增加;裂纹尖端塑性区长度主要与退火温度相关。裂纹张开位移和塑性区长度的计算结果与实验数据均符合较好,验证了金属基体裂纹特征模型的有效性。     

U_3Si_2Al弥散型燃料的辐照肿胀研究

介绍了U3Si2 Al弥散型燃料的辐照肿胀机理。将弥散型燃料的芯体视为连续基体中的微型燃料元件 ,应用裂变气体的行为机理描述燃料相中的气泡形成过程。研究结果表明 :燃料相的肿胀引起燃料颗粒和金属基体之间的力学相互作用 ,金属基体能抑制燃料颗粒的辐照肿胀。在一定辐照条件下 ,本模型对燃料元件辐照肿胀的预测值与测量值相符     

U3Si2—Al弥散型燃料的辐照肿胀研究

介绍了U3Si2-Al弥散型燃料的辐照肿胀机理。将弥散型燃料的芯体视为连续基体中的微型燃料元件,应用裂变气体的行为机理描述燃料相中的气泡形成过程。研究结果表明：燃料相的肿胀引起燃料颗粒和金属基体之间的力学相互作用,金属基体能抑制燃料颗粒的辐照肿胀。在一定辐照条件下,本模型对燃料元件辐照肿胀的预测值与测量值相符。     

弥散核燃料等效辐照肿胀计算模拟

本文将弥散核燃料芯体看作一种特殊的颗粒复合材料,利用细观计算力学的方法,假设燃料颗粒在芯体中周期性分布,建立了对芯体等效辐照肿胀进行计算模拟的有限元模型。考虑颗粒的辐照肿胀和基体材料的辐照硬化效应,分别建立了燃料颗粒和基体材料的应力更新算法,编制了用户材料子程序,在Abaqus软件中实现了芯体等效辐照肿胀的有限元模拟。计算分析了颗粒大小和体积含量对芯体等效辐照肿胀的影响,并得到了等效辐照肿胀的拟合公式。研究结果表明,影响芯体等效辐照肿胀的主要因素是颗粒的辐照肿胀和体积含量。     

金属基弥散微封装燃料中TRISO燃料颗粒的尺寸优化设计

弥散微封装燃料是将包覆燃料颗粒弥散在基体中形成燃料芯块或者燃料棒,是目前耐事故燃料（ATF）中最具发展潜力的燃料之一。包覆燃料颗粒为三结构同向型（TRISO）或者两结构同向型（BISO）包覆燃料颗粒,基体可以是金属也可以是陶瓷。本文用有限元分析软件ABAQUS对金属基弥散微封装燃料进行了分析计算。通过分析TRISO燃料颗粒各包覆层厚度对燃料性能的影响,提出优化改进的建议。研究结果表明,疏松热解碳层（Buffer）厚度越大,燃料颗粒发生破损失效的燃耗越高,因此设计时应考虑增加其厚度;内部致密热解碳层（IPyC）厚度越大,其自身的最大环向拉应力越大,因此设计时应降低其厚度;碳化硅（SiC）层厚度越大,其自身环向压应力越小,因此设计时应降低其厚度。本文的研究结果可为金属基弥散微封装燃料的优化设计提供指导。      

弥散型核燃料热导率计算模型研究

弥散型燃料热导率是反应堆安全分析和燃料元件性能评估中的重要参数。本文基于多孔物体热导率理论,考虑基体中弥散颗粒分布相关性的影响,建立弥散型燃料热导率的计算模型,并初步验证了模型的合理性,在此基础上研究了孔隙率、燃料相体积分数以及燃料相/基体热导率比对弥散型燃料热导率的影响。结果表明:弥散型燃料热导率随燃料相体积分数和孔隙率的增加而降低;燃料相与基体热导率之比越大,燃料相体积分数对热导率的影响越小。      

弥散型燃料板辐照肿胀行为的有限元分析

采用颗粒复合材料的细观力学研究思路,针对弥散型燃料板,选择一种代表性单元作为研究对象,用与裂变密度和燃耗相对应的、不断增大的裂变压力模拟燃料颗粒裂变对铝基体所产生的力学贡献,对研究对象进行了热力耦合分析.考察了裂变压力、温度应变和燃料颗粒沿厚度非均布对颗粒肿胀的影响,并对弥散型燃料板基体的米塞斯应力分布情况进行了分析.研究结果表明,颗粒百分比含量越高,颗粒肿胀的速度相对越快;随着裂变压力增大,颗粒肿胀的速率急剧增大,且颗粒不再是圆形;在正常工作和选取的参数条件下,温度应变对总变形的影响不大;当裂变压力不大时,非均匀分布对颗粒肿胀几乎没有影响,随着裂变压力的增大,非均匀分布的颗粒肿胀明显高于均布情况,而且越来越明显;基体的应力非球对称分布.     

U_3Si_2-Al燃料肿胀特性研究

基于扩散动力学建立了辐照条件下U_3Si_2-Al反应层生长模型和燃料肿胀模型,并结合中国工程试验堆(CENTER)燃料辐照试验数据,验证了上述模型的有效性和适用性。结果表明,反应层生长模型与现有辐照后测量数据的符合程度较好,可用于U_3Si_2-Al弥散燃料肿胀特性计算;燃料肿胀模型对于预测CENTER燃料元件的肿胀率具有保守性。     

气冷堆用棱柱型弥散微封装燃料性能分析及优化研究

棱柱型弥散微封装燃料是将三重各向同性包覆（TRISO）燃料颗粒弥散于金属或陶瓷基体形成的颗粒增强复合燃料,具有良好的结构稳定性、裂变产物包容能力和辐照稳定性,是高温气冷堆中较具发展前景的燃料形式之一。本文提出将TRISO燃料颗粒弥散于SiC基体的棱柱型弥散微封装燃料设计方案,并基于有限元分析软件COMSOL建立了该燃料元件三维热流固耦合分析模型,初步实现了该燃料元件性能分析和优化设计。结果表明,棱柱型弥散微封装燃料元件的温度最大值位于燃料元件外侧,应力峰值位于冷却剂通道壁面,边距比为0.76~0.84、孔距比为0.68~0.75时燃料元件热应力最小。本文建立的棱柱型弥散微封装燃料性能分析方法和研究结论,可为后续该型气冷堆燃料元件设计提供指导和参考。      

U-10Mo/Zr单片式燃料元件堆内稳态热-力学性能研究

本文建立了U-10Mo/Zr单片式燃料元件的辐照性能模型以及热-力学本构关系,采用有限元方法进行非均匀辐照场中燃料元件稳态热-力学性能的数值模拟,获得并分析了U-10Mo/Zr单片式燃料元件温度、形变和应力的分布特点及变化规律。研究结果表明,燃料芯体厚度增量在芯体和包壳结合面附近达到最大,主要受到燃料辐照蠕变的影响;在较低燃耗条件下,燃料芯体高温辐照肿胀模拟结果与低温辐照肿胀试验结果相当;燃料芯体边角区域和包壳端面外侧区域存在应力集中。      

Reliability analysis of dispersion nuclear fuel elements

Taking a dispersion fuel element as a special particle composite, the representative volume element is chosen to act as the research object. The fuel swelling is simulated through temperature increase. The large strain elastoplastic analysis is carried out for the mechanical behaviors using FEM. The results indicate that the fission swelling is simulated successfully; the thickness increments grow linearly with burnup; with increasing of burnup: (1) the first principal stresses at fuel particles change from tensile ones to compression ones, (2) the maximum Mises stresses at the particles transfer from the centers of fuel particles to the location close to the interfaces between the matrix and the particles, their values increase with burnup; the maximum Mises stresses at the matrix exist in the middle location between the two particles near the mid-plane along the length (or width) direction, and the maximum plastic strains are also at the above region.     

Simulation of irradiation hardening of Zircaloy within plate-type dispersion nuclear fuel elements

Within plate-type dispersion nuclear fuel elements, the metal matrix and cladding attacked continuously by fast neutrons undergo irradiation hardening, which might have remarkable effects upon the mechanical behaviors within fuel elements. In this paper, with the irradiation hardening effect of metal materials mainly considered together with irradiation growth effect of the cladding, the three-dimensional large-deformation constitutive relations for the metal matrix and cladding are developed. The method of virtual temperature increase in the previous studies is further developed to model the irradiation swelling of fuel particles; the method of anisotropic thermal expansion is introduced to model irradiation growth of the cladding; and a method of multi-step-temperature loading is proposed to simulate the coupling features of irradiation-induced swelling of the fuel particles together with irradiation growth of the cladding. Above all, based on the developed relationship between irradiation growth at certain burnup and the loaded virtual temperatures, with considering that certain burnup corresponds to certain fast neutron fluence, the time-dependent constitutive relation due to irradiation hardening effect is replaced by the virtual-temperature-dependent one which is introduced into the commercial software to simulate the irradiation hardening effects of the matrix and cladding. Numerical simulations of the irradiation-induced mechanical behaviors are implemented with the finite element method in consideration of the micro-structure of the fuel meat. The obtained results indicate that when the irradiation hardening effects are introduced into the constitutive relations of the metal matrix and cladding: (1) higher maximum Mises stresses for certain burnup at the matrix exist with the equivalent plastic strains remaining almost the same at lower burnups; (2) the maximum Mises stresses for certain burnup at the cladding are enhanced while the maximum equivalent plastic strains are reduced; and (3) the maximum first principal stresses for certain burnup at the matrix or the cladding are lower than the ones without the hardening effect, and the differences are found to increase with burnup; and the variation rules of the interfacial stresses are similar.     

Modeling of the heat transfer performance of plate-type dispersion nuclear fuel elements

Considering the mutual actions between fuel particles and the metal matrix, the three-dimensional finite element models are developed to simulate the heat transfer behaviors of dispersion nuclear fuel plates. The research results indicate that the temperatures of the fuel plate might rise more distinctly with considering the particle swelling and the degraded surface heat transfer coefficients with increasing burnup; the local heating phenomenon within the particles appears when their thermal conductivities are too low. With rise of the surface heat transfer coefficients, the temperatures within the fuel plate decrease; the temperatures of the fuel plate are sensitive to the variations of the heat transfer coefficients whose values are lower, but their effects are weakened and slight when the heat transfer coefficients increase and reach a certain extent. Increasing the heat generation rate leads to elevating the internal temperatures. The temperatures and the maximum temperature differences within the plate increase along with the particle volume fractions. The surface thermal flux goes up along with particle volume fractions and heat generation rates, but the effects of surface heat transfer coefficients are not evident.     

钒合金加载变形和损伤演化的数值模拟

钒合金具有良好的高温强度、低辐照活化和抗辐照肿胀等特性,使其成为核工程中的一种重要结构材料。为评估V-5Cr-5Ti合金应力作用下的变形和损伤演化特征,开展了光滑和有缺口两种形状合金试样拉伸加载过程的试验和数值模拟研究,并对断口形貌进行了扫描电镜（SEM）观察。根据拉伸试验拟合钒合金的材料本构参数,数值模拟获得试样加载过程的应力 应变分布和颈缩区的损伤演化,将数值模拟获得的载荷 位移曲线与试验测试对比,结果表明二者在弹性和塑性阶段的变形曲线均非常一致,扫描电镜观察获得了两种形状试样的静态拉伸断裂机制。     

Mechanical behaviors of the dispersion nuclear fuel plates induced by fuel particle swelling and thermal effect I: Effects of variations of the fuel particle volume fractions

A new method of modeling the in-pile mechanical behaviors of dispersion nuclear fuel elements is proposed. Considering the irradiation swelling together with the thermal effect, numerical simulations of the in-pile mechanical behaviors are performed with the developed finite element models for different fuel particle volume fractions of the fuel meat. The effects of the particle volume fractions on the mechanical performances of the fuel element are studied. The research results indicate that: (1) the maximum Mises stresses and equivalent plastic strains at the matrix increase with the particle volume fractions at each burnup; the locations of the maximum first principal stresses shift with increasing burnup; at low burnups, the maximum first principal stresses increase with the particle volume fractions; while at high burnups, the 20% volume fraction case holds the lowest value; (2) at the cladding, the maximum equivalent plastic strains and the tensile principal stresses increase with the particle volume fractions; while the maximum Mises stresses do not follow this order at high burnups; (3) the maximum Mises stresses at the fuel particles increase with the particle volume fractions, and the particles will engender plastic strains until the particle volume fraction reaches high enough.     

Simulation of pellet-cladding thermomechanical interaction and fission gas release

This paper summarizes the present status of a computer code that describes some of the main phenomena occurring in a nuclear fuel rod throughout its life. Temperature distribution, thermal expansion, elastic and plastic strains, creep, mechanical interaction between pellet and cladding, fission gas release, gas mixing, swelling, and densification are modeled. The modular structure of the code allows for the incorporation of models to simulate different phenomena and material properties. Collapsible rods can be also simulated.The code is bidimensional, assumes cylindrical symmetry for the rod and uses the finite element method to integrate the differential equations. The stress–strain and heat conduction problems are nonlinear due to plasticity and to the temperature dependence of the thermal conductivity. The fission gas inventory is calculated with a diffusion model, assuming spherical grains and using a one-dimensional finite element scheme. Pressure increase, swelling and densification are coupled with the stress field.Good results are obtained for the simulation of the irradiation tests of the first argentine prototypes of MOX fuels, where the bamboo effect is clearly observed, and of the FUMEX series for the fuel centerline temperature, the inside rod pressure and the fractional gas release.     

Fitness for service evaluation of cracked divider plate bolt locking tabs for nuclear steam generators

This paper is to address the structural integrity issues related to continued service without repair or replacement for cracked locking tabs on divider plates of nuclear steam generators. Significantly high residual stress introduced by cold bending of locking tabs at installation was simulated by elastic–plastic finite element method and considered in the fitness for service evaluation. Significant work hardening resulted from the accumulation of large and inhomogeneous plastic deformation introduced by the in situ bending was quantified and considered. Failure and degradation mechanisms for crack stability and propagation were identified. Linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) theory with crack tip plastic zone correction was adopted to establish critical crack sizes. Life of safe operation of the cracked locking tabs from inspected crack sizes to the critical crack sizes was then evaluated. Initial crack sizes at installation were also established through a highly contrived backward fitting evaluation procedure.