Thermomechanical loading applied on the cladding tube during the pellet cladding mechanical interaction phase of a rapid reactivity initiated accident

International audienceCalculations of the CABRI REP-Na5 pulse were performed with the ALCYONE code in order to determine the evolution of the thermomechanical loading applied on the cladding tube during the Pellet-Cladding Mechanical Interaction (PCMI) phase of a rapid Reactivity Initiated Accident (RIA) initiated at 280 °C that lasted 8.8 ms. The evolution of the following parameters are reported: the cladding temperature, heating rate, strain rate and loading biaxiality. The impact of these parameters on the cladding mechanical behavior and fracture are then briefly reviewed

Temperature increase of Zircaloy-4 cladding tubes due to plastic heat dissipation during tensile tests at 0.1-10 s−1 strain rates

International audienceThis study is focused on the impact of rapid Reactivity Initiated Accident (RIA) representative strain rates (about 1 s−1 NEA, 2010) on the behavior and fracture of unirradiated cold work stress relieved Zircaloy-4 cladding tubes. Uniaxial ring tests (HT) and plane strain ring tensile tests (PST) were performed in the 0.1-10 s−1 strain rate range, at 25 °C. The local temperature increase due to plastic dissipation was measured with a high-speed infrared camera. Limited temperature increases were measured at 0.1 s−1 strain rate. Limited but not strongly localized temperature increases were measured at 1 s−1. Large temperature increase were measured at 5 and 10 s−1 (142 °C at 5 s−1 strain rate in HT tests). The local temperature increase induced heterogeneous temperature fields, which enhanced strain localization and resulted in a reduction of the plastic elongation at fracture

Mechanical behavior of recrystallized Zircaloy-4 under monotonic loading at room temperature: Tests and simplified anisotropic modeling

Mechanical behavior of recrystallized Zircaloy-4 was studied at room temperature in the rolling-transverse plane of a thin sheet. Uniaxial constant elongation rate tests (CERTs) were performed along with creep tests, over a wide range of strain rates. Based on a simplified formulation, different sets of parameters for an anisotropic viscoplastic model were found to fit the stress–strain curves. Notched specimen tensile tests were carried out with a digital image correlation (DIC) technique in order to determine the strain field evolution. From these measurements and the determination of Lankford coefficients, the most consistent model was selected and simulated data were successfully compared with the experimental observations

Hydride blisters formation, characterization and effect on the fracture of Zircaloy-4 cladding tubes under reactivity initiated accident conditions

International audienceThis work is part of the global research effort carried out at the CEA to improve the understanding of cladding failure under reactivity initiated accident (RIA) conditions, based on analytical mechanical testing techniques. The detrimental effect of hydride blisters, localized high hydrogen concentration zones, on the cladding resistance was observed in integral tests in dedicated research reactors. In order to better quantify this effect, the present study is focused on mechanical tests representative of RIA loading conditions on samples containing such blisters. A cold spot technique was developed to generate hydride blisters on Zircaloy-4 cold work stress relieved (CWSR) unirradiated pre-hydrided claddings tubes. The hydrogen concentration field in and around the blister was measured by Micro Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis (µ-ERDA) and with micro- and nano-hardness techniques. Hydrogen concentration was found to decrease from the center of the blisters toward their borders. Finally, the nature of hydride phases characterized by X-Ray diffraction was found to be exclusively ? in the blister. Hydrides blisters detrimental effect on cladding mechanical resistance was assessed at 25°C, 350°C and 480°C with different mechanical tests performed on tubular samples. A newly developed test named Controlled Loading Path Expansion Due to Compression (CLP-EDC) was developed to reach biaxiality ratio of 0.5 while the standard EDC test biaxiality is limited to -0.5. The comparison between both tests show the clear effect of increasing the biaxiality on cladding failure without blister: Standard EDC tests biaxiality level is not sufficient to induce cladding fracture at 350°C. Similar tests were performed on samples with blisters of various depths. The results show the loading biaxiality effect seems to be much limited in presence of such defects. This work provides extensive experimental characterization of hydrides blisters, and analysis of the detrimental effect of blisters on the mechanical behavior of Zircaloy-4 cladding based on a new mechanical test that have all the characteristics needed for use on irradiated materials in shielded cells in the near future. The next step is to perform numerical computations to simulate the blister induced embrittlement

Hydrogen contribution to the thermal expansion of hydrided Zircaloy-4 cladding tubes

International audienceThis study is focused on the hydrogen-induced dimensional change or "growth" of zirconium alloys. Dilatometric experiments were performed on samples taken from a unirradiated Zircaloy-4 (Zy-4) fuel cladding loaded up to 940 wppm hydrogen. Samples were taken in the axial direction of the tube or at 45° to the axial and transverse directions. The results indicate that hydrogen-induced expansion is anisotropic. Theoretical expansion calculations were carried out considering the partition of hydrogen in solid solution and hydrides together with the material crystallographic texture. Hydride-induced expansion was calculated using two different assumptions reported in the literature, namely "Pure Lattice Transformation Strains" (PLTS) and "Pure Shear Transformation Strains" (PSTS). Calculations based on the PSTS hypothesis satisfactorily predicted the anisotropy observed in the dilatometric curve. Under this assumption, the contribution of hydrides to the axial growth of high-burnup Zy-4 cladding is limited to 12%. This study shows it is important to consider the respective contribution of hydrogen in both states, together with the material crystallographic texture, to understand the dilatometric behavior of hydrided zirconium alloys

Fracture of Zircaloy-4 cladding tubes with or without hydride blisters in uniaxial to plane strain conditions with standard and optimized expansion due to compression tests

International audienceTwo optimizations of the Expansion Due to Compression (EDC) test, which induces a near uniaxial loading, were proposed and developed to reach higher biaxiality ratios (ratio between mechanical quantities in axial and in circumferential direction). The first optimization, named HB-EDC for High-Biaxiality EDC, allowed to reach transverse plane strain conditions. The second optimization, named VHB-EDC for Very High Biaxiality EDC, was designed to reach higher loading biaxiality ratios. These optimized EDC tests were performed at 25 °C, 350 °C and 480 °C on unirradiated hydrided Cold Worked Stress Relieved (CWSR) Zircaloy-4 samples. First, samples unhydrided or uniformly hydrided up to 1130 wppm were tested. Second, samples hydrided at 310 wppm with a hydride blister were tested. A large ductility reduction is induced by the increase in biaxiality level in the absence of a hydride blister or with small blisters (View the MathML source<50μm deep). The fracture strain decreases quickly with the blister depth at 25 °C, but more progressively at higher temperature. An equation that quantifies the fracture strain reduction with the blister depth is proposed. Eventually, one of the tests developed in the present study, the HB-EDC test, was proven to be a good compromise between the test complexity and the stress state reached. It is a good candidate to characterize the mechanical behaviour of irradiated cladding

Fracture of Zircaloy-4 fuel cladding tubes with hydride blisters

International audienceThe influence of hydride blister on cold worked stress relieved Zircaloy-4 cladding tubes fracture toughness at room temperature was studied using hoop tensile tests and plane strain tensile tests. The experimental macroscopic fracture stress and strain values and an elastic-plastic finite element analysis of the mechanical tests with the CAST3 M code were used to calculate the J-integral and estimate the fracture toughness for several blister depths from 120 to 240 μm

Stress corrosion crack initiation of Zircaloy-4 cladding tubes in an iodine vapor environment during creep, relaxation, and constant strain rate tests

During accidental power transient conditions with Pellet Cladding Interaction (PCI), the synergistic effect of the stress and strain imposed on the cladding by thermal expansion of the fuel, and corrosion by iodine released as a fission product, may lead to cladding failure by Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC). In this study, internal pressure tests were conducted on unirradiated cold-worked stress-relieved Zircaloy-4 cladding tubes in an iodine vapor environment. The goal was to investigate the influence of loading type (constant pressure tests, constant circumferential strain rate tests, or constant circumferential strain tests) and test temperature (320, 350, or 380 °C) on iodine-induced stress corrosion cracking (I-SCC). The experimental results obtained with different loading types were consistent with each other. The apparent threshold hoop stress for I-SCC was found to be independent of the test temperature. SEM micrographs of the tested samples showed many pits distributed over the inner surface, which tended to coalesce into large pits in which a microcrack could initiate. A model for the time-to-failure of a cladding tube was developed using finite element simulations of the viscoplastic mechanical behavior of the material and a modified Kachanov's damage growth model. The times-to-failure predicted by this model are consistent with the experimental data

Formation and characterization of hydride blisters in Zircaloy 4 cladding tubes

International audienceThis article is focused on the formation of hydride blisters in zirconium alloys an experimental and theoretical standpoint, and their characterization in terms of morphology, hydrides crystallographic phases, hardness and hydrogen concentration. An experimental setup was developed to grow hydride blisters on pre-hydrided Zircaloy-4 cladding tubes by thermo-diffusion. The thermal conditions were optimized based on thermo-diffusion calculations, that take into account the hysteresis in the hydrogen solubility limit, to obtain a high blister growth rate. Micro-X-ray Diffraction (XRD), nano-hardness and Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis (ERDA) showed that the blisters contain a hydrogen gradient, with pure δδ-hydride phase close to the external surface over one third of the blister depth. Thermo-diffusion calculations showed these half thickness blisters should grow in only a few days in PWR conditions. Eventually, the Diffusion Equilibrium Threshold (DET) was defined as a criterion that limits the blister growth, and emphasizes that the hysteresis in the hydrogen solubility limit in zirconium must be taken into account to model hydrogen thermo-diffusion in zirconium alloys

Fissuration en relaxation des aciers inoxydables austénitiques - Influence de l'écrouissage sur l'endommagement intergranulaire

La fissuration en relaxation se développe au voisinage de certaines soudures en acier inoxydable austénitique lorsque celles-ci sont réchauffées à des températures supérieures à 450 °C. Cet endommagement intergranulaire intervient lorsque les zones affectées ne possèdent pas une ductilité suffisante pour relaxer les contraintes résiduelles liées au soudage. L'analyse de zones affectées en acier 316 (17Cr-12Ni-2.5Mo) a montré que celles-ci étaient fortement écrouies lors du soudage et que les fissures intergranulaires résultaient de la coalescence de micro-cavités similaires à celles observées en fluage. Une microstructure équivalente à celle des zones affectées a été reproduite par laminage pour trois aciers de type 316 possédant des teneurs en carbone et en azote différentes (316L, 316L(N), 316H). Des essais de traction, de fluage et de relaxation ont été réalisés à 550°C et à 600°C sur des éprouvettes lisses, entaillées et pré-fissurées prélevées dans ces coupons laminés ainsi que dans des coupons vierges. L'écrouissage entraîne un fort durcissement lié à l'effet direct de l'augmentation de la densité de dislocations et une chute de la ductilité qui n'est pas due à un changement de mécanisme de rupture mais à une augmentation de la cinétique d'endommagement intergranulaire. Cette fragilisation par écrouissage est telle que l'on est parvenu à reproduire la propagation de fissure en relaxation sur matériau écroui alors qu'elle reste très limitée sur matériau vierge. L'importance de l'écrouissage sur la fissuration en relaxation, déjà évoquée par Chabaud-Reytier (1999) à propos d'un acier inoxydable stabilisé au titane de type 321 (18Cr-10Ni-0.5Ti), concerne donc également les aciers non stabilisés de type 316 quelle que soit leur teneur en éléments interstitiels. A partir de mesures de la densité locale de micro-fissures et de calculs des champs mécaniques par éléments finis, un nouveau modèle d'endommagement intergranulaire a été identifié sur des éprouvettes entaillées en acier 316L(N) testées en fluage à 600°C. Ce modèle permet de rendre compte de l'effet fragilisant de l'écrouissage, en fluage comme en relaxation, et met en évidence l'importance du taux de triaxialité des contraintes sur la cinétique de l'endommagement intergranulaire. Le risque de fissuration en relaxation au voisinage d'une soudure peut alors être estimé à partir des champs de contraintes et de déformations résiduelles