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

Wang, Hong; Wang, Jy-An John

doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2016.07.044

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

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Abstract

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.

Authors:

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

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

Publication Date:: Wed Jul 20 00:00:00 EDT 2016

Research Org.:: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)

OSTI Identifier:: 1279391

Alternate Identifier(s):: OSTI ID: 1396788

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

Resource Type:: Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:: Journal of Nuclear Materials

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Volume: 479; Journal Issue: C; Journal ID: ISSN 0022-3115

Publisher:: Elsevier

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS

Citation Formats


                    Wang, Hong, and Wang, Jy-An John. Bending testing and characterization of surrogate nuclear fuel rods made of Zircaloy-4 cladding and aluminum oxide pellets.  United States: N. p., 2016. 
Web.  doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2016.07.044.

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                    Wang, Hong, & Wang, Jy-An John. Bending testing and characterization of surrogate nuclear fuel rods made of Zircaloy-4 cladding and aluminum oxide pellets.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2016.07.044

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                    Wang, Hong, and Wang, Jy-An John. Wed .  
"Bending testing and characterization of surrogate nuclear fuel rods made of Zircaloy-4 cladding and aluminum oxide pellets".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2016.07.044.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1279391.

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@article{osti_1279391,

  title        = {Bending testing and characterization of surrogate nuclear fuel rods made of Zircaloy-4 cladding and aluminum oxide pellets},

  author       = {Wang, Hong and Wang, Jy-An John},

  abstractNote = {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.},

  doi          = {10.1016/j.jnucmat.2016.07.044},

  journal      = {Journal of Nuclear Materials},

  number       = C,

  volume       = 479,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {Wed Jul 20 00:00:00 EDT 2016},

  month        = {Wed Jul 20 00:00:00 EDT 2016}

}

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