Bending testing and characterization of surrogate nuclear fuel rods made of Zircaloy-4 cladding and aluminum oxide pellets

Journal Article · Wed Jul 20 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Journal of Nuclear Materials

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2016.07.044· OSTI ID:1279391

Wang, Hong ^[1]; Wang, Jy-An John ^[1]

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1. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

We studied behavior of surrogate nuclear fuel rods made of Zircaloy-4 (Zry-4) cladding with alumina pellets under reversed cyclic bending. Tests were performed under load or moment control at 5 Hz, and an empirical correlation was established between rod fatigue life and amplitude of the applied moment. Fatigue response of Zry-4 cladding was further characterized by using flexural rigidity. Degradation of flexural rigidity was shown to depend on the moment applied and the prefatigue condition of specimens. Pellet-to-pellet interface (PPI), pellet-to-cladding interface (PCI), and pellet condition all affect surrogate rod failure. Bonding/debonding of PPI/PCI and pellet fracturing contribute to surrogate rod bending fatigue. Also, the effect of sensor spacing on curvature measurement using three-point deflections was studied; the method based on effective specimen gauge length is effective in sensor spacing correction. Finally, we developed the database and gained understanding in this study such that it will serve as input to analysis of SNF vibration integrity.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE; USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1279391
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 22644383; OSTI ID: 1396788
• Journal Information: Journal of Nuclear Materials, Journal Name: Journal of Nuclear Materials Journal Issue: C Vol. 479; ISSN 0022-3115
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS