Multi-physical effects induced by spatiotemporal corrosion of T91 cladding in oxygen-controlled LBE environment

Abstract

T91, a pivotal candidate material for cladding in lead-based fast reactors (LFRs), demonstrates considerable potential for corrosion resistance in liquid lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) corrosion experiments. However, the multi-physics characteristics of T91 cladding corrosion in its operational environment remain unclear, posing an obstacle to its practical application. This study focuses on the spatiotemporal corrosion of T91 cladding in multi-physics coupling scenarios by means of COMMA (Cladding/Oxidation corrosion Multi-physics Modeling and Analysis code), in which, modules of cladding oxidation, cladding oxide removal, heat transfer, mechanical deformation, and fission gas release are integrated and collaboratively solved. The corrosion patterns of T91 cladding with different oxygen concentrations and the underlying multi-physics behavior of the corrosion processes under operational conditions simulating are summarized. For the lower oxygen concentration of 1.8e-9 wt% in LFRs, the results indicate a 0.2 m axial zone with base material exposed to LBE reveals the presence of the oxidation protection failure. An exacerbation of cladding heat transfer degradation is observed after oxygen concentration reaching the oxygen-dominant region, due to the enhanced temperature positive feedback of oxidation corrosion. For the high oxygen concentration of 1.4e-6 wt%, an axial offset of 0.24 m for the location of the minimum gap size is observed. This study identifies a trend of the reduction thickness of cladding that first decreasing and then increasing with an elevated oxygen concentration, attributed to a transition in corrosion patterns. The temperature and mechanical analyses indicate that the optimal oxygen concentration for corrosion inhibition and fuel safety is located around the critical oxygen-dominant concentration.