Fracture properties of an irradiated PWR UO2 fuel evaluated by micro-cantilever bending tests

JOURNAL OF NUCLEAR MATERIALS

卷:538

Article

Henry, Ronan^1,2  Zacharie-Aubrun, Isabelle²  Blay, Thierry²  Chalal, Smail³  Gatt, Jean-Marie²  Langlois, Cyril¹  Meille, Sylvain¹ 

[1] Univ Lyon, MATEIS UMR CNRS 5510, INSA Lyon, 7 Ave Jean Capelle, F-69621 Villeurbanne, France

[2] CEA, DEN, DEC, Cadarache, F-13108 St Paul Les Durance, France

[3] Carl Zeiss SAS, Div Microscopie & Syst, 100 Route Versailles, F-78161 Marly Le Roi, France

关键词: Micro-cantilever bending test;    Fracture properties;    Focused ion beam;    Irradiated UO2 fuel;    Grain boundaries;    Crystallographic planes;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.jnucmat.2020.152209

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

For the first time, fracture properties of a UO2 fuel preliminary irradiated in a Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) were characterized by bending tests. Measurements were made at room temperature and at a local scale on micro-cantilevers. Notched and un-notched specimens were prepared with a Focalized Ion Beam (FIB) microscope. Some cantilevers were milled into single grains of the polycrystalline UO2 fuel sample with specific crystallographic orientations chosen with Electron BackScatter Diffraction (EBSD) measurements, others were milled in order to test grain boundaries. Then, every specimen was tested up to failure with a nano-indenter in situ of the SEM/FIB chamber. The resulting brittle fracture parameters (fracture toughness and fracture stress) are compared and discussed. Grain boundaries exhibit a significantly lower fracture resistance than grains, and {111} crystallographic planes appear weaker than {100} and {110} planes in single grains. (c) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

【 授权许可】

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