Autoclave grid-to-rod fretting wear evaluation of a candidate cladding coating for accident-tolerant fuel
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Materials Science & Technology Division
- Westinghouse Electric Company, Hopkins, SC (United States)
In pressurized water reactors (PWRs), water flow induced vibrations cause contact and rubbing between the fuel rods and the supporting grid, a phenomenon known as Grid-to-Rod-Fretting (GTRF). GTRF may produce progressive wear damage on the fuel claddings leading to subsequent leakage of radioactive fission products. Various accident-tolerant fuel (ATF) concepts are being developed for higher resistance to the high temperature steam and one approach is to apply a cladding coating. Here, fretting wear behavior of a candidate Cr-coating was investigated using a unique bench-scale autoclave testing rig mimicking the environment in an industrial full-assembly PWR simulator. The contact was under a realistically low load (~0.5 N) lubricated by deionized water at a temperature of 204 °C under a pressure of 20-23 bars. Results demonstrated that the Cr-coating significantly improved the cladding's wear resistance when tested against a commercial ZIRLO grid with or without pre-oxidization. In addition, the Cr-coating also reduced wear on the non-oxidized ZIRLO grid but slightly increased the wear on the pre-oxidized grid.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE), Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Supply Chain. Advanced Fuel Campaign; USDOE
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC05-00OR22725
- OSTI ID:
- 1756262
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1776259
- Journal Information:
- Wear, Vol. 466-467; ISSN 0043-1648
- Publisher:
- ElsevierCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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