DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Autoclave grid-to-rod fretting wear evaluation of a candidate cladding coating for accident-tolerant fuel

Abstract

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.

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [2]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Materials Science & Technology Division
  2. Westinghouse Electric Company, Hopkins, SC (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE), Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Supply Chain. Advanced Fuel Campaign; USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1756262
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1776259
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC05-00OR22725
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Wear
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 466-467; Journal ID: ISSN 0043-1648
Publisher:
Elsevier
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS; grid-to-rod-fretting (GTRF); accident-tolerant fuel (ATF); Cr-coating; pressurized water reactors (PWRs); autoclave; wear

Citation Formats

Reed, Brady, Wang, Rick, Lu, Roger Y., and Qu, Jun. Autoclave grid-to-rod fretting wear evaluation of a candidate cladding coating for accident-tolerant fuel. United States: N. p., 2020. Web. doi:10.1016/j.wear.2020.203578.
Reed, Brady, Wang, Rick, Lu, Roger Y., & Qu, Jun. Autoclave grid-to-rod fretting wear evaluation of a candidate cladding coating for accident-tolerant fuel. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2020.203578
Reed, Brady, Wang, Rick, Lu, Roger Y., and Qu, Jun. Sun . "Autoclave grid-to-rod fretting wear evaluation of a candidate cladding coating for accident-tolerant fuel". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2020.203578. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1756262.
@article{osti_1756262,
title = {Autoclave grid-to-rod fretting wear evaluation of a candidate cladding coating for accident-tolerant fuel},
author = {Reed, Brady and Wang, Rick and Lu, Roger Y. and Qu, Jun},
abstractNote = {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.},
doi = {10.1016/j.wear.2020.203578},
journal = {Wear},
number = ,
volume = 466-467,
place = {United States},
year = {Sun Dec 13 00:00:00 EST 2020},
month = {Sun Dec 13 00:00:00 EST 2020}
}

Works referenced in this record:

Assessment of wear coefficients of nuclear zirconium claddings without and with pre-oxidation
journal, June 2016


Grid-to-rod flow-induced impact study for PWR fuel in reactor
journal, August 2016


Fretting-wear of zirconium alloys
journal, April 2002

  • Fisher, Nigel J.; Weckwerth, Murray K.; Grandison, Dwight A. E.
  • Nuclear Engineering and Design, Vol. 213, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1016/S0029-5493(02)00035-3

Research on performance enhancement of nuclear fuel with SiC cladding by using high thermal conductivity fuels
journal, June 2020


A review on thermohydraulic and mechanical-physical properties of SiC, FeCrAl and Ti3SiC2 for ATF cladding
journal, January 2020


A comparative study on the wear behaviors of cladding candidates for accident-tolerant fuel
journal, October 2015


Accident tolerant fuel cladding development: Promise, status, and challenges
journal, April 2018


Experimental evaluation of cold spray FeCrAl alloys coated zirconium-alloy for potential accident tolerant fuel cladding
journal, December 2019


Effects of amplitude and frequency on the wear mode change of Inconel 690 SG tube mated with SUS 409
journal, May 2014


A multi-stage wear model for grid-to-rod fretting of nuclear fuel rods
journal, May 2014


Cracking and spalling of the oxide layer developed in high-burnup Zircaloy-4 cladding under normal operating conditions in a PWR
journal, December 2018


Effect of a surface oxide-dispersion-strengthened layer on mechanical strength of zircaloy-4 tubes
journal, March 2018

  • Jung, Yang-Il; Park, Dong-Jun; Park, Jung-Hwan
  • Nuclear Engineering and Technology, Vol. 50, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.net.2017.12.001

Enhanced wear resistance of CrAl-coated cladding for accident-tolerant fuel
journal, September 2019


AREVA NP's enhanced accident-tolerant fuel developments: Focus on Cr-coated M5 cladding
journal, March 2018

  • Bischoff, Jeremy; Delafoy, Christine; Vauglin, Christine
  • Nuclear Engineering and Technology, Vol. 50, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.net.2017.12.004

A study on fretting fatigue characteristics of Inconel 690 at high temperature
journal, October 2011


Early studies on Cr-Coated Zircaloy-4 as enhanced accident tolerant nuclear fuel claddings for light water reactors
journal, April 2019


Investigating grid-to-rod fretting wear of nuclear fuel claddings using a unique autoclave fretting rig
journal, October 2018