Post-transient examination of performance of uranium silicide fuel and silicon-carbide composite cladding under reactivity-initiated accident conditions

Schulthess, Jason; Kamerman, David; Winston, Alexander; Pomo, A.; Trowbridge, Tammy L.; Pu, Xiaofei; Woolstenhulme, Nicolas E.; Imholte, D. Devin; Jensen, Colby; Wachs, Daniel M.

doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2022.153520

Cited by 10 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…The materials and irradiation parameters of two irradiated fuel rodlets (SETH-H and SETH-I) with SiC-SiC cladding are shown in Table 1. SETH-H was noted as SETH-H, and SETH-I was noted as SETH-I in the previous study [19,20]. The SiC tubes of the two samples have inner and outer diameters of 8.001 ± 0.076 and 9.652 ± 0.076 mm, respectively.…”

Section: Experimental Datamentioning

confidence: 73%

Multi-Scale Characterization of Porosity and Cracks in Silicon Carbide Cladding after Transient Reactor Test Facility Irradiation

Xu,

Yao,

et al. 2023

Energies

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Silicon carbide (SiC) ceramic matrix composite (CMC) cladding is currently being pursued as one of the leading candidates for accident-tolerant fuel (ATF) cladding for light water reactor applications. The morphology of fabrication defects, including the size and shape of voids, is one of the key challenges that impacts cladding performance and guarantees reactor safety. Therefore, quantification of defects’ size, location, distribution, and leak paths is critical to determining SiC CMC in-core performance. This research aims to provide quantitative insight into the defect’s distribution under multi-scale characterization at different length scales before and after different Transient Reactor Test Facility (TREAT) irradiation tests. A non-destructive multi-scale evaluation of irradiated SiC will help to assess critical microstructural defects from production and/or experimental testing to better understand and predict overall cladding performance. X-ray computed tomography (XCT), a non-destructive, data-rich characterization technique, is combined with lower length scale electronic microscopic characterization, which provides microscale morphology and structural characterization. This paper discusses a fully automatic workflow to detect and analyze SiC-SiC defects using image processing techniques on 3D X-ray images. Following the XCT data analysis, advanced characterizations from focused ion beam (FIB) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were conducted to verify the findings from the XCT data, especially quantitative results from local nano-scale TEM 3D tomography data, which were utilized to complement the 3D XCT results. In this work, three SiC samples (two irradiated and one unirradiated) provided by General Atomics are investigated. The irradiated samples were irradiated in a way that was expected to induce cracking, and indeed, the automated workflow developed in this work was able to successfully identify and characterize the defects formation in the irradiated samples while detecting no observed cracking in the unirradiated sample. These results demonstrate the value of automated XCT tools to better understand the damage and damage propagation in SiC-SiC structures for nuclear applications.

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Section: Experimental Datamentioning

confidence: 73%

Multi-Scale Characterization of Porosity and Cracks in Silicon Carbide Cladding after Transient Reactor Test Facility Irradiation

Xu,

Yao,

et al. 2023

Energies

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“…This work examines the radiation-induced chemistry at the interface of water with silicon nitride, Si 3 N 4 , as well as zirconium carbide, ZrC, and zirconium nitride, ZrN. When combined with the previously published work on silicon carbide, SiC, a comprehensive set of data is presented for some of the major ceramics proposed for cladding materials. , Limited studies with silicon oxide, SiO 2 , and zirconium oxide, ZrO 2 , have been included to compare with the literature and to illustrate trends due to the surface structure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When combined with the previously published work on silicon carbide, SiC, a comprehensive set of data is presented for some of the major ceramics proposed for cladding materials. 18,27 Limited studies with silicon oxide, SiO 2 , and zirconium oxide, ZrO 2 , have been included to compare with the literature and to illustrate trends due to the surface structure.…”

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Silicon and Zirconium Ceramics Radiolysis in the Presence of Water

2023

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Ceramic materials display several desirable characteristics for nuclear energy applications, and thus, understanding how they behave in a radiation field, particularly in accident scenarios, is necessary for their successful implementation. This work investigates the role of interfacial water on radiolytic processes occurring at the surface of silicon and zirconium carbides and nitrides. Modification of the surfaces and the effect of those surfaces on H 2 production are investigated. All studied materials were found to have a layer of oxidation on the surface, and this oxidation layer affects H 2 production. Radiolysis up to doses of 50 MGy was not found to affect the bulk material, and very few changes to the surface were observed. The amount of H 2 produced during irradiation correlated with the amount of water adsorbed by the ceramics, and the importance of the ceramic surface decreased as the water fraction increased. The exact nature of the surface of these ceramics is therefore incredibly important when assessing the effects of radiation in accident scenarios.

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“…It is worthwhile to mention that, although beyond the scope of this study, another important design consideration of SiC/SiC claddings is the reactivity initiated accident. A recent study investigated the performance of SiC/SiC composite cladding subjected to transient nuclear heating and reactivity‐initiated energy depositions 28 . In such an accidental event, the material experiences rapid loading, which produces a very high strain rate.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A recent study investigated the performance of SiC/SiC composite cladding subjected to transient nuclear heating and reactivity-initiated energy depositions. 28 In such an accidental event, the material experiences rapid loading, which produces a very high strain rate. Laboratory experiments have been performed to understand the behavior of SiC/SiC composites under high strain rates.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanistic modeling of lifetime distribution of SiC/SiC composite claddings

et al. 2022

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Silicon carbide (SiC) fiber‐reinforced SiC matrix (SiC/SiC) composites have emerged as a new material candidate for fuel claddings in light water reactors. Recent studies showed that the load capacity of SiC/SiC materials exhibits a considerable statistical variation. Therefore, reliability analysis plays a critical role in design of SiC/SiC composite claddings. This paper presents a probabilistic model for the lifetime distribution of SiC/SiC composites. The model is anchored by a multiaxial stress‐based failure criterion and subcritical damage accumulation mechanism. Based on the kinetics of subcritical damage growth, the lifetime distribution of a laboratory test specimen for any given loading history can be calculated. A finite weakest‐link model is used to extrapolate the lifetime distribution of test specimens to full‐length claddings. It is shown that the damage accumulation mechanism has a strong influence on the lifetime distribution of the cladding. This finding highlights the importance of understanding the static fatigue behavior of SiC/SiC composites. The present analysis also demonstrates an intricate length effect on the failure probability of the cladding, which is expected to play a crucial role in design extrapolation.

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Post-transient examination of performance of uranium silicide fuel and silicon-carbide composite cladding under reactivity-initiated accident conditions

Cited by 10 publications

References 56 publications

Multi-Scale Characterization of Porosity and Cracks in Silicon Carbide Cladding after Transient Reactor Test Facility Irradiation

Multi-Scale Characterization of Porosity and Cracks in Silicon Carbide Cladding after Transient Reactor Test Facility Irradiation

Silicon and Zirconium Ceramics Radiolysis in the Presence of Water

Mechanistic modeling of lifetime distribution of SiC/SiC composite claddings

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