Investigation of constituent redistribution in U-Pu-Zr fuels and its dependence on varying Zr content

Rahn, Thaddeus; Capriotti, Luca; Lemma, Fidelma Giulia Di; Trowbridge, Tammy L.; Harp, Jason; Aitkaliyeva, Assel

doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2021.153301

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…The single pin examined in [11] was subjected to a moderate overpower. However, the observed threemicrostructure redistribution behavior [13] for fuel regions is in line with the previous literature. Moreover, rare earth precipitates were found in the porous structure.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Qualification and Quantification of Porosity at the Top of the Fuel Pins in Metallic Fuels Using Image Processing

Gribok,

Di Lemma,

Fay

et al. 2024

Energies

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Approximately 130,000 metal fuel pins were irradiated in the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) during its 30 years of operation to develop and characterize existing and prospective fuels. For many of the metal fuel irradiation experiments, neutron radiography imaging was performed to characterize fuel behavior, such as fuel axial expansion. While several fuel expansion results obtained from neutron radiography imaging have been published, the analysis of neutron radiography for the purpose of describing statistical properties of porous matter formed on top of the fuel pins, also referred to as fluff in previous publications, is significantly less represented in the literature with just a single paper so far. This study aims to validate and augment results reported in previous publications using automated image processing. The paper describes the statistical properties of the porous matter in terms of nine parameters derived from radiography images and correlates those parameters with such fuel properties as composition, expansion, temperature, and burnup. The reported results are based on 1097 fuel pins of eight different fuel compositions. For three major fuel types, U-10Zr, U-8Pu-10Zr, and U-19Pu-10Zr, a clear negative correlation is found between the Pu content and five parameters describing the amount of porous matter generated. The parameters describing granularity properties, however, showed either negative correlation or nonlinear dependency from fuel composition. The parameters describing the amount showed a positive correlation with fuel axial expansion, while granularity parameters showed a negative correlation with axial expansion. The dependency on cladding temperature was found to be weak. A positive correlation is demonstrated for volume parameters and fuel burnup. In general, reported results confirm and validate findings published in previous studies using a much larger number of pins and automated processing techniques, which easily lend themselves to reproducibility, thus avoiding subjective bias.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Qualification and Quantification of Porosity at the Top of the Fuel Pins in Metallic Fuels Using Image Processing

Gribok,

Di Lemma,

Fay

et al. 2024

Energies

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“…The specific reason is unknown, but it shall not be interpreted to be caused by temperature because the heat of transport parameter Q* analysis by G. L. Hofman (Hofman et al, 1996) has shown that Zr concentration at this position has nothing to do with Q*. According to Thaddeus et al (Rahn et al, 2021), it seems that the Zr rind can form during fabrication. But we cannot rule out that the increased atom diffusion coefficient due to irradiation effects made Zr gather locally in a long time-scale.…”

Section: Discussion Of the Results Near The Fuel Surfacementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The initial uniform radial constituent distribution of metal-fuel transforms to an inhomogeneous counterpart due to the redistribution phenomenon driven by thermodynamics. Inhomogeneous distribution of ingredients and fission products significantly impacts fuels' mechanical and physical properties (Murphy et al, 1969;Kim et al, 2004;Rahn et al, 2021). Therefore, it is crucial to understand and predict the redistribution kinetics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A phase-field model with irradiation-enhanced diffusion for constituent redistribution in U-10wt%Zr metallic fuels

et al. 2022

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Constituent redistribution is a unique phenomenon to metal fuels that threatens the safety of such fuel forms. Therefore, it is imperative to establish models to understand the intrinsic mechanisms and predict the redistribution kinetics. In this work, we derived the conservative field equations of the phase-field model from near-equilibrium thermodynamic theory. A macroscopic constituent redistribution phase-field model was developed by introducing the effect of irradiation on the atom mobility and the effect of temperature on the interface mobility. An expression of phase boundary width, applicable to both microscopic and macroscopic scenarios was proposed. The interfacial parameters of the model and the Zr concentration distribution near the fuel surface were discussed at last. These works may help understand constituent redistribution characteristics and promote the application of the phase-field method in studying constituent redistribution in macroscopic scenarios.

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“…Radial metallography image and BISON qualitative comparison. (a) X/L = 0.30 (b) X/L = 0.50 (c) X/L = 0.65 (d) X/L = 0.80 (e) X/L = 0.95[36,37].…”

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confidence: 99%

Comparison of Zirconium Redistribution in BISON EBR-II Models Using FIPD and IMIS Databases with Experimental Post Irradiation Examination

Paaren,

Christian,

Capriotti

et al. 2023

Energies

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Metallic fuels have seen increased interest for future sodium fast reactors due to their material properties: high thermal conductivities and advantageous neutronic properties allow for greater fission densities. One drawback to typical metallic fuels is zirconium redistribution, which impacts this advantageous material and its neutronic properties. Unfortunately, the processes behind zirconium migration behavior are understood using first principles, so before these fuels are implemented in future fast reactors, characterization and fuel qualification regimes must be completed. These activities can be supported through the use of robust modeling using the most accurate empirical models currently available to fuel researchers around the world. The tool that allows researchers to model this complex coupled thermo-mechanical behavior and nuclear properties is BISON. Additionally, BISON model parameters need to be compared against PIE measurements. The current work utilizes two fuel pins from EBR-II experiment X441 to optimize various model parameters, including porosity correction factor, thermal conductivity, phase transition temperature, and diffusion coefficient multipliers, before implementing the final model for seven fuel pins with differing characteristics. To properly evaluate the BISON simulations, the results are compared to PIE metallography data for each fuel pin, to ensure the zirconium redistribution is properly reflected in the simulation results. Six out of seven analyzed fuel pins demonstrate good agreement between the metallography images and BISON results, showing alignment of the Zr-rich, Zr-depleted, and moderately Zr-enriched zones at various axial heights along the fuel pins. Further work is needed to refine the model parameters for general pin use.

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Investigation of constituent redistribution in U-Pu-Zr fuels and its dependence on varying Zr content

Cited by 7 publications

References 27 publications

Qualification and Quantification of Porosity at the Top of the Fuel Pins in Metallic Fuels Using Image Processing

Qualification and Quantification of Porosity at the Top of the Fuel Pins in Metallic Fuels Using Image Processing

A phase-field model with irradiation-enhanced diffusion for constituent redistribution in U-10wt%Zr metallic fuels

Comparison of Zirconium Redistribution in BISON EBR-II Models Using FIPD and IMIS Databases with Experimental Post Irradiation Examination

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