A new irradiation growth model for Zr-based components of nuclear reactors for the DIONISIO code

CAZADO, MAURICIO E.; GOLDBERG, EZEQUIEL; TOGNERI, MARTÍN A.; DENIS, ALICIA; SOBA, ALEJANDRO

NUCLEAR ENGINEERING AND DESIGN

ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA

Año: 2021 vol. 373

0029-5493

When!zirconium-based!materials!are!subjected!to!irradiation,!dimensional!changes!occur!due!to!irradiation!creep!and! growth.! Predicting! the! behavior! of! these! phenomena! is! necessary! to! determine! the!maximum! time! of!operation!required!to!avoid!possible!mechanical!problems,!such!as!buckling!of!sheaths,!cracks,!sheath-cooling!channel! contact,! etc.! In! this! work,! a! model! to! evaluate! the! irradiation! growth! based! on! the! evolution! of!microstructural!defects!such!as!dislocations!and!point!defects!is!presented.!Preliminary!results!obtained!are!in!good!agreement!with!experimental!data.!In!addition,!the!model!was!incorporated!as!a!new!subroutine!within!the!nuclear!fuel!code!DIONISIO!and!some!comparisons!with!experimental!data!and!previous!models!in!DIONISIO!are!presented.!!!