Mechanical behaviour of porous lanthanide oxide microspheres: Experimental investigation and numerical simulations

Actinide oxide microspheres are considered as promising substituents to powder precursors for the production of ceramic pellets of nuclear fuel or targets. Porous microspheres of sub-millimetric size are synthesised using the Weak Acid Resin process. Controlling their microstructure and their mechanical properties is essential to predict the microstructure of green compacts and sintered pellets. Here, cerium and gadolinium are used to mimic actinides as metal cation. Single microspheres are crushed experimentally using a micropress in a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) to investigate their mechanical properties and visualise their fracture behaviour. The results are compared to numerical simulations based on the Discrete Element Method (DEM). In DEM, a microsphere is modelled as an assembly of bonded spheres representing aggregates. Bonds may fracture in tension or shear. A limited number of material parameters (aggregate elastic modulus, bond strength) are sufficient for the accurate simulation of the fracture behaviour of a microsphere.