Structure of high-burnup-fuel Zircaloy cladding. [PWR; BWR]
Zircaloy cladding from high-burnup (> 20 MWd/kg U) fuel rods in light-water reactors is characterized by a high density of irradiation-induced defects (RID), compositional changes (e.g., oxygen and hydrogen uptake) associated with in-service corrosion, and geometrical changes produced by creepdown, bowing, and irradiation-induced growth. During a reactor power transient, the cladding is subject to localized stress imposed by thermal expansion of the cracked fuel pellets and to mechanical constraints imposed by pellet-cladding friction. As part of a program to provide a better understanding of brittle-type failure of Zircaloy fuel cladding by pellet-cladding interaction (PCI) phenomenon, the stress-rupture properties and microstructural characteristics of high-burnup spent fuel cladding have been under investigation. This paper reports the results of the microstructural examinations by optical microscopy, scanning (SEM), 100-keV transmission (TEM), and 1 MeV high-voltage (HVEM) electron microscopies of the fractured spent fuel cladding with a specific empahsis on a correlation of the structural characteristics with the fracture behavior.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab., IL (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-31-109-ENG-38
- OSTI ID:
- 5914092
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-831047-22; ON: DE83014699
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: American Nuclear Society winter meeting, San Francisco, CA, USA, 30 Oct 1983
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
BWR TYPE REACTORS
REACTOR MATERIALS
PWR TYPE REACTORS
BRITTLENESS
FRACTURE PROPERTIES
PHYSICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
ZIRCALOY
BURNUP
FUEL CANS
MICROSTRUCTURE
ALLOYS
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
MATERIALS
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
RADIATION EFFECTS
REACTORS
TIN ALLOYS
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS
ZIRCONIUM ALLOYS
ZIRCONIUM BASE ALLOYS
210100* - Power Reactors
Nonbreeding
Light-Water Moderated
Boiling Water Cooled
210200 - Power Reactors
Nonbreeding
Light-Water Moderated
Nonboiling Water Cooled
360106 - Metals & Alloys- Radiation Effects
360103 - Metals & Alloys- Mechanical Properties