The impact of duct-to-duct interaction on the hex duct dilation

Conference · Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 1992

OSTI ID:10149935

Lee, M J; Chang, L K; Lahm, C E; Porter, D L

Dilation of the hex duct is an important factor in the operational lifetime of fuel subassemblies in liquid metal fast reactors. It is caused primarily by the irradiation-enhanced creep and void swelling of the hex duct material. Excessive dilation may jeopardize subassembly removal from the core or cause a subassembly storage problem where the grid size of the storage basket is limited. Dilation of the hex duct in Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) limits useful lifetime because of these storage basket limitations. It is, therefore, important to understand the hex duct dilation behavior to guide the design and in-core management of fuel subassemblies in a way that excessive duct deformation can be avoided. To investigate the dilation phenomena, finite-element models of the hex duct have been developed. The inelastic analyses were performed using the structural analysis code, ANSYS. Both Type 316 and D9 austenitic stainless steel ducts are considered. The calculated dilations are in good agreement with profilometry measurements made after irradiation. The analysis indicates that subassembly interaction is an important parameter in addition to neutron fluence and temperature in determining hex duct dilation. 5 refs.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 10149935
• Report Number(s): ANL/CP-74487; CONF-920631-38; ON: DE92014764
• Resource Relation: Conference: American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) pressure vessels and piping conference,New Orleans, LA (United States),21-25 Jun 1992; Other Information: PBD: [1992]
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
EBR-2 REACTOR
FUEL ASSEMBLIES
FUEL CHANNELS
EXPANSION
STAINLESS STEEL-316
CREEP
AUSTENITIC STEELS
DUCTS
FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
A CODES
HEAT TRANSFER
REACTOR SAFETY
220900
210500
360103
POWER REACTORS
BREEDING
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES