About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
Materials in Nuclear Energy Systems (MiNES) 2025
|
| Symposium
|
Materials in Nuclear Energy Systems (MiNES) 2025
|
| Presentation Title |
Weibull Fracture Statistics for Ceramic Fuel Pellets |
| Author(s) |
Brian J. Jaques, Andrew Nelson, Adriana Lupercio, Brandon King, Allyssa Bateman |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Brian J. Jaques |
| Abstract Scope |
Measuring and modeling fracture behavior of ceramic nuclear fuels has gained attention due to fuel fragmentation at high burnup and development of high-performance light water reactor fuels. Datasets describing fracture properties of UO2 are sparse in the historic literature, and modern experimental methods have prioritized small scale methods that provide qualitative understanding but cannot capture flaw distributions on the engineering scale. In this study, ball on ring (BoR) and ball on three ball (B3B) techniques were used to develop statistically relevant mechanical properties of advanced, high value ceramics, specifically, nuclear fuels. Equibiaxial flexural strengths (also known as transverse rupture strength (TRS)) of right cylindrical technical ceramics were used to validate the techniques. The BoR method was demonstrated with 16 mm diameter pellets whereas the B3B method was demonstrated with 3 mm diameter pellets, or mini-fuel like geometries. Three technical ceramics were tested to validate the TRS fixture designs, including commercially available alumina (Al2O3), magnesia partially stabilized zirconia (MSZ), and yttria partially stabilized zirconia (YSZ). A statically relevant number of samples (N > 30) for each material were tested to allow for an accurate Weibull statistics assessment. The test methods were then used to obtain TRS values for uranium dioxide and doped uranium dioxide fuel pellets. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Undecided |