Mesoscale modeling of restructuring in high burnup UO2 fuel

Biswas, Sudipta; Aagesen, Jr., Larry Kenneth

doi:10.1016/j.commatsci.2025.114052

Mesoscale modeling of restructuring in high burnup UO₂ fuel

Journal Article · Tue Jul 08 00:00:00 EDT 2025 · Computational Materials Science

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.commatsci.2025.114052· OSTI ID:2583855

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Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

Here, this work aims to simulate the restructuring behavior observed in different regions of high burnup fuel, providing a first-of-its-kind restructuring model for the dark zone and rim region of high-burnup UO₂ fuel. We employed a grand-potential-based phase-field model to concurrently evaluate subgrain formation and the growth of fission gas bubbles within the fuel. An energy-based subgrain formation criterion was introduced to simulate the restructuring process. The effects of different initial conditions and different modeling parameters were systematically studied to capture how each of these parameters influences the characteristics of the restructured fuel. Subgrain formation was observed to begin around existing fission gas bubbles and proceed toward triple junctions, grain boundaries, and grain interiors. Restructuring was demonstrated to be influenced by a combination of initial dislocation densities, burnup rate, subgrain formation rate, and temperature. Under a given subgrain formation rate, the rate of restructuring increases with rising fuel temperature. A restructuring bias was observed within the microstructure, due to the variation in defect accumulation when comparing different grains. Microstructures corresponding to the dark zone and rim region can be obtained by parameterizing the model with the appropriate defect production rate, as determined based on the burnup rate and temperature. Furthermore, bubble size and distribution do not significantly affect the rate of restructuring. The predicted microstructures are consistent with experimental observations of the restructured regions. Finally, we present a correlation demonstrating the evolution of the restructuring volume fraction as a function of local burnup.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE), Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC07-05ID14517

OSTI ID:: 2583855

Report Number(s):: INL/JOU--24-82221

Journal Information:: Computational Materials Science, Journal Name: Computational Materials Science Vol. 258; ISSN 0927-0256

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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dark zone
high-burnup structure
phase-field model
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Mesoscale modeling of restructuring in high burnup UO2 fuel

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Mesoscale modeling of restructuring in high burnup UO₂ fuel