Young's modulus evaluation of high burnup structure in UO2 with nanometer resolution

The mechanical properties of a well-characterized irradiated light water reactor fuel pin with an average burnup of 72 MWd/kgU were investigated by utilizing nano-indentation technique. Young's modulus and hardness are reported as functions of radial positions covering from mid radial position...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of nuclear materials Vol. 508; no. C; pp. 33 - 39
Main Authors Terrani, Kurt A., Balooch, Mehdi, Burns, Joseph R., Smith, Quinlan B.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01.09.2018
Elsevier
Subjects
Elastic modulus
Hardness
High burnup fuel
Nano-indentation
Elastic modulus
Hardness
High burnup fuel
Nano-indentation
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Summary:The mechanical properties of a well-characterized irradiated light water reactor fuel pin with an average burnup of 72 MWd/kgU were investigated by utilizing nano-indentation technique. Young's modulus and hardness are reported as functions of radial positions covering from mid radial position in the urania pellet to high burnup structure, fuel-cladding chemical interaction zone and zirconium-based cladding. By probing microstructure of the high burnup zone, the mechanical properties of sub-grains and the interaction between them were examined at the nanometer scale. Force-displacement curves from each of these individual sub-grains suggest they resemble single crystal UO2. However, these restructured grains are weakly bonded to their neighbors.
Bibliography:USDOE
AC05-00OR22725
ISSN:0022-3115
1873-4820
DOI:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2018.04.004