Preliminary Research on The Thermal-Mechanical Coupling Behavior Simulation Method of M3 Fuel

Abstract

Abstract M3 fuel which microencapsulated TRISO particles in zirconium metal matrix is an integrated fuel designed to replace the traditional pellet-cladding fuel rod. The fuel design can effectively solve the problems of LWR fuel, such as water side corrosion, abrasion, pellet-cladding interaction, stress corrosion cracking and internal pressure bracing. Because of the multiple coating structure of TRISO particles and complex contacting behavior and deformation between TRISO particle and metal matrix, M3 fuel exhibits complex in-pile behavior. In order to establish the simulation method for the M3 fuel, the three-dimensional model was established by using ABAQUS software. The complex contacting behavior and deformation of coated layers and matrix for M3 fuel was considered. The results indicated that bonded strength between TRISO particle and Zr matrix has great effect on the stress distribution of SiC layer and matrix. The vulnerable area of Zr matrix located in the nearest position of TRISO particle to TRISO particle. The maximum tensile hoop stress of SiC layer was up to 150 MPa under strong bonding state, while SiC layer suffered compressive stress during all operation time for the weak bonding state. The failure probability of SiC layer was about 7 × 10−3 under strong bonding state which much higher than the weak ones. Thus, the integrity of SiC layer can be maintained by controlling the bonding strength between TRISO particle and Zr matrix during manufacturing process.