| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
MS&T22: Materials Science & Technology
|
| Symposium
|
Emergent Materials under Extremes and Decisive In Situ Characterizations
|
| Presentation Title |
In Situ Microstructural Characterization of Metallic Nuclear Fuels |
| Author(s) |
Tiankai Yao, Kaustubh Bawane, Sriram Vijayan, Amey Khanolkar, Fidelma Giulia Di Lemma , Lingfeng He |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Lingfeng He |
| Abstract Scope |
Metallic nuclear fuels are ideal for fast reactors because of higher densities of fissile and fertile materials than other fuel forms. The phase evolution and fuel-cladding chemical interaction in metallic fuels in nuclear reactor environments are not yet well understood. In this work, we design in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) experiments using a micro electromechanical system (MEMS) based heating stage and study microstructural evolution in two metallic fuel systems, U-Zr and U-Mo as a function of temperature. The thermally driven phase changes are characterized by using electron diffraction and ChemiSTEM techniques. We further modify MEMS-based heating stage to study thermal gradient effects on microstructural evolution in these metallic fuels. In addition, in situ laser ultrasonic measurements supplement in situ TEM characterization to monitor phase transitions during thermal processing. These in situ characterization experiments provide better mechanistic understanding in microstructural and chemical evolution in metallic fuels under non-equilibrium conditions. |