skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Cladding burst behavior of Fe-based alloys under LOCA

Journal Article · · Journal of Nuclear Materials
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [2]
  1. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
  2. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Virginia Commonwealth Univ., Richmond, VA (United States)

Burst behavior of austenitic and ferritic Fe-based alloy tubes has been examined under a simulated large break loss of coolant accident. Specifically, type 304 stainless steel (304SS) and oxidation resistant FeCrAl tubes were studied alongside Zircaloy-2 and Zircaloy-4 that are considered reference fuel cladding materials. Following the burst test, characterization of the cladding materials was carried out to gain insights regarding the integral burst behavior. Given the widespread availability of a comprehensive set of thermo-mechanical data at elevated temperatures for 304SS, a modeling framework was implemented to simulate the various processes that affect burst behavior in this Fe-based alloy. The most important conclusion is that cladding ballooning due to creep is negligible for Fe-based alloys. Thus, unlike Zr-based alloys, cladding cross-sectional area remains largely unchanged up to the point of burst. Furthermore, for a given rod internal pressure, the temperature onset of burst in Fe-based alloys appears to be simply a function of the alloy's ultimate tensile strength, particularly at high rod internal pressures.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1244189
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1396643
Journal Information:
Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 470, Issue C; ISSN 0022-3115
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 48 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Similar Records

Related Subjects