Mechanical Behavior of Nuclear Reactor Components: Poster Session
Sponsored by: TMS Materials Processing and Manufacturing Division, TMS Structural Materials Division, TMS: Nanomechanical Materials Behavior Committee, TMS: Nuclear Materials Committee
Program Organizers: Clarissa Yablinsky, Los Alamos National Laboratory; Assel Aitkaliyeva, University of Florida; Eda Aydogan, Middle East Technical University; Laurent Capolungo, Los Alamos National Laboratory; Khalid Hattar, University of Tennessee Knoxville; Kayla Yano, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Caleb Massey, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Monday 5:30 PM
March 15, 2021
Room: RM 50
Location: TMS2021 Virtual
Simulating the Effects of Neutron Irradiation on Zirconium Alloys: A Crystal Plasticity Finite Element Approach: Omid Sedaghat1; Hamidreza Abdolvand1; 1Western University
α-zirconium, with hexagonal close packed (HCP) crystal structure, has been widely used in the core of various nuclear reactors due to its low neutron absorption cross section and good corrosion resistance. In a nuclear reactor, zirconium alloys are exposed to an intensive neutron flux resulting in a phenomenon known as irradiation damage, which affects the deformation mechanism of the alloy over the service time. In this study, a dislocation based non-local crystal plasticity finite element (CPFE) model is developed to simulate the effects of crystal anisotropy and polycrystal microstructure on the localized stresses that develop as a result of neutron irradiation. The development of localized stresses as a results of irradiation growth is studied. It is shown that the model is capable of simulating the effects of prior cold-work on the irradiation growth and the associated localized stress fields that develop at the vicinity of grain boundaries.
The Thermo-mechanical Fracture of Chromium-zirconium Systems: T. Hasan1; Mohammed Zikry1; 1North Carolina State University
In this investigation, we introduce a validated computational framework to understand how chromium-based coating fractures occur for different mechanical loading conditions due to the different crystalline structures pertaining to the chromium (b.c.c.) film and the zirconium (h.c.p.) substrate. We further investigate how to control coating adhesion at high temperatures to avoid delamination through tracking how simultaneous and multiple coating and substrate cracks can interact and affect interfacial behavior. Finally, our models provide insights to how the higher strength and moduli of chromium-based coatings influence the overall thermo-mechanical response of coated systems subjected to extreme environments, such that optimal thicknesses can be determined to avoid cladding rupture.