Photo from wikipedia
Abstract During reactor operation, the formation of bubbles at the grain boundaries can alter the fracture properties and subsequently the thermo-mechanical behavior of nuclear fuels. In this work, we discuss… Click to show full abstract
Abstract During reactor operation, the formation of bubbles at the grain boundaries can alter the fracture properties and subsequently the thermo-mechanical behavior of nuclear fuels. In this work, we discuss a phase-field fracture model, its implementation in MOOSE (Multiphysics Object-Oriented Simulation Environment), and its application to simulate porosity dependent brittle intergranular fracture. The presence of gas bubbles on grain boundaries has a non-negligible impact on crack initiation and propagation. Three-dimensional simulations are performed to investigate the influence of bubble geometry, porosity and loading conditions on the fracture strength. The correlation between fracture strength and porosity suggested by numerical simulations has a good agreement with experimental measurements.
Journal Title: Computational Materials Science
Year Published: 2020
Link to full text (if available)
Share on Social Media: Sign Up to like & get
recommendations!