Experimental system for studying temperature gradient-driven fracture of oxide nuclear fuel out of reactor.

Temperature gradients in ceramic light water reactor (LWR) uranium dioxide (UO2) nuclear fuel pellets generate thermal stresses that cause fractures in the fuel, which begins early in the life of fresh fuel. The combination of heating due to fission and forced convective cooling on the exterior of LWR fuel rods generates a temperature profile that is difficult to replicate outside the reactor environment. In this study, a state-of-the-art experimental setup using electrical heating to study certain aspects of temperature driven fracture was built, and surrogate fuel materials such as ceria (CeO2) were used to validate the system. Cracking experiments were conducted on these surrogates by inducing reactivity-initiated-accident like temperature gradients in the pellets via induction and direct resistance heating. Induction heating was done using copper coils and molybdenum susceptors, which heated the surrogates to a threshold temperature that is sufficiently high for the fuel material to conduct current. Thereafter, direct resistance heating was achieved by passing current through the specimen using a DC power supply to introduce volumetric heating to replicate LWR operating conditions. The pellets were held against nickel electrodes and mounted on a boron nitride test-stand. All the tests were carried out in a stainless-steel vacuum chamber. Simultaneous real-time dual imaging of the surrogate pellet surface was implemented using an optical and infrared camera system that was mounted along axial and perpendicular directions to the pellet surface, respectively. A beam-splitter was used to split the incoming radiation from the sample into two halves. While one of the beams was transmitted from the splitter through a bandpass filter to obtain optical images, the other beam was reflected from the splitter to the thermal camera to capture full-field temperature gradients of the as-fabricated pellet surface during cracking. Some initial tests were conducted with a 2-color pyrometer that was later substituted with a forward-looking infrared thermal camera to capture the temperature profiles. A LabVIEW data acquisition system was set up for collecting useful data during experiments.

Vapor-phase fabrication and properties of continuous-filament ceramic composites.

The continuous-filament ceramic composite is becoming recognized as necessary for new, high-temperature structural applications. Yet because of the susceptibility of the filaments to damage from traditional methods for the preparation of ceramics, vapor-phase infiltration has become the fabrication method of choice. The chemical vapor infiltration methods for producing these composites are now being studied in earnest, with the complexity of filament weaves and deposition chemistry being merged with standard heat and mass-transport relationships. Two of the most influential effects on the mechanical properties of these materials are the adhesion and frictional force between the fibers and the matrix, which can be controlled by a tailored interface coating. A variety of materials are available for producing these composites including carbide, nitride, boride, and oxide filaments and matrices. Silicon carbide-based materials are by far the most advanced and are already being used in aerospace applications.