DOI 10.

1007/s10512-015-0034-2
Atomic Energy, Vol. 119, No. 2, December, 2015 (Russian Original Vol. 119, No. 2, August, 2015)

MECHANISMS OF THE INITIAL STAGE OF FUEL ELEMENT

DEGRADATION IN FAST-REACTOR FUEL ASSEMBLIES

Yu. I. Zagorul’ko, M. V. Kashcheev, UDC 621.039.534

and N. S. Ganichev

The time to failure of fuel-element cladding during loss of sodium flow through fuel assemblies was evaluated
numerically on the basis of a specially developed computational method. The mechanical properties of EK-164
steel were used in the calculations. The calculations were performed for different cooling regimes of the outer
surface of the cladding: cooling with sodium at temperature 1073 K, boiling sodium, and sodium in a film-
boiling regime.

The initial degradation of fuel-element cladding in fuel assemblies in fast reactors during an accident with uncontrol-
lable loss of sodium flow is due to physical actions occurring when fuel melts and the assemblies comes into with the fuel
melt. The reduction of heat removal on the outer side of the cladding initiates a rise in temperature at the inner surface up to
the melting point of the material. The asymmetry of the temperature field in the cladding wall gives rise to thermal stresses.
At the same time, the pressure of the fission gases grows rapidly because of the heating. The nonstationary character of the
contact between the fuel melt and the inner surface of the cladding because of the motion of the melt causes defects to appear
in the most weakened zone and subsequently emerge in the fuel-assembly channels. This scenario of the initial stage of deg-
radation of the fuel-element cladding relies on experimental studies [1, 2].
In a strict formulation of the problem of calculating the kinetics of these processes, it is necessary to take account of
the change in the reactivity and degradation of the mechanical properties of the cladding material at temperatures close to its
melting point as well as changes in the conditions of heating and cooling on the inner and outer sides of the cladding along
its entire height. At present, it is impossible to take these effects into account because the corresponding data do not exist.
Calculations of the time to melting of the cladding and the thermal stresses in the cladding material at fixed moments
in time are presented in the present article for the fuel-element geometry of large reactors.
Calculation of the Melt of Fuel Element Cladding and Cladding Failure Due to Thermal Stresses. In an emer-
gency situation, because heat release continues to increase while heat removal is limited the temperature of the fuel-element
cladding can increase to the melting point of the material. Melting of the fuel element cladding can be represented mathemat-
ically in accordance with the scheme shown in Fig. 1.
The temperature field in the central opening, fuel, and fuel-element cladding is described by the heat-conduction
equation

(1)

where ρ is the density; cp is the isobaric specific heat; T is the temperature; τ is the time; z and r are, respectively, the longi-
tudinal and transverse coordinates; λ is the thermal conductivity; and qv is the energy release in the fuel. The indices 1, 2, and
3 refer to the gas in the opening, fuel, and cladding steel, respectively.

State Science Center of the Russian Federation – Leipunskii Institute for Physics and Power Engineering (GNTs RF – FEI), Obninsk, Russia.
Translated from Atomnaya Énergiya, Vol. 119, No. 2, pp. 75–79, August, 2015. Original article submitted February 11, 2015.

90 1063-4258/15/11902-0090 ©2015 Springer Science+Business Media New York

 Fig. 1. Melting zone of a fuel element: 1) central opening; 2, 4) fuel and
steel melt, respectively; 3) solid fuel; 5) steel.

In the general case, a boundary condition of the third kind is imposed on the outer boundaries of the computational
region. In the calculations the adiabatic boundary condition was used at the top and bottom boundaries. On the outer surface
of a fuel element,
(2)

where α3 is the heat transfer coefficient from the outer surface of the fuel-element cladding, and Ta.m is the temperature of the
ambient medium.
The following matching conditions are prescribed at the boundary of different zones:

(3)

(4)

The melting temperature of the material is prescribed on the melting front and the condition for determining the
position of the melting front at an arbitrary moment in time (Stefan’s condition) is written down:

(5)

(6)

where Tm is the melting temperature, Lm is the heat of melting, ξ is the transverse coordinate of the points on the melting front,
and η is the longitudinal coordinate of the points on the melting front.
The index 1 in Eqs. (5) and (6) is used for variables pertaining to the melt region and the index 2 for variables per-
taining to the melting medium.
Taking account of the presence of a gas gap (mixed uranium-plutonium fuel) the conditions for non-ideal contact
between two media have the form:

(7)

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 (8)

where δ is the width of the gas gap, and λg is thermal conductivity of the gas.
The following symmetry condition holds on the axis of a fuel element:

(9)

The initial conditions are:

(10)

where Ti0 is the initial temperature of the corresponding material.

Equation (1) as well as the boundary and initial conditions (2)–(10) can be put into dimensionless form [3]. The
following scale is chosen: for the coordinates and linear dimensions, R0 = r3; for the temperature,
where qm, ρm, and cp,m are the scales for energy release, density, and specific heat, respectively. We introduce
the dimensionless quantities

After transformations, the mathematical description of the problem assumes the following dimensionless form:

(11)

The boundary and initial conditions in dimensionless form are:

(12)

(13)

(14)

(15)

(16)

(17)

(18)

(19)

(20)

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 In equations (11)–(20), the overbar means that the quantity is dimensionless; in conditions (16),

The dimensionless mathematical description contains the following dimensionless criteria: Ho = τVm /R0 is the ho-
mochronicity number; Pe = VmR0ρmcpm /λm, Bi = αR0 /λm are, respectively, the Peclet and Bio numbers.
The stress produced in the fuel-element cladding by the internal pressure is determined according to Laplace’s for-
mula for thin shells [4]:

where σm and σt are, respectively, the meridional and circumferential (tangential) stresses; rm and rt are radii of curvature; p is
the pressure in the fuel element; and δw is the thickness of the cladding wall.
Since in the case at hand rm = ∞ and rt = rʹ2 = r2 + δ, we have

The meridional stress is determined by using the balance of forces, whence follows According to
[5], in the case of a thin-wall cylindrical shell, the stresses σr, σθ, and σz are determined by the following relations:

where α is the linear expansion coefficient; E is the modulus of elasticity in tension and compression; v is Poisson’s ratio; T is
the temperature measured from Ta.m; r is the coordinate; and η is a coordinate determining the position of the points on the
melting front.
In dimensionless form,

According to the energy (fourth) theory of strength, which as a rule is used for plastic materials, the equivalent stress
is determined according to the relation [6]

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TABLE 1. Computed Temperature and Stress in Fuel Element Cladding in the Central Section (0.425 m) in the Molten-Sodium
Cooling Regime with α = 3000 W/(m2·K) at Time 1.2 sec

r, mm T, K σeq, MPa

4.06 1141 19.4

4.13 1140 17.3
4.20 1139 19.1
4.27 1138 21.3
4.34 1137 23.8
4.41 1136 26.2
4.48 1135 28.6
4.55 1135 30.8
4.62 1134 32.9

Fig. 2. The time to failure of fuel-element cladding versus the coefficient

of heat transfer from the outer surface of the fuel element cladding in the
molten-sodium cooling regime.

In the working relation presented above, the stress state of the material is expressed in terms of the principle stresses
σ1, σ2, and σ3. The tensile stresses are considered to be positive and the compressive stresses negative.
The failure condition has the form:

where σy is the yield point.

The method of [7] was used to solve the posed problem numerically.
Results and Discussion. The computational procedure presented above was implemented in specially developed
software. In the calculations of the failure of fuel-element cladding due to stress and melting three cooling regimes for fuel
elements were examined: by means of sodium with temperature 1073 K, boiling sodium, and sodium in the film boiling re-
gime. The calculations were performed taking account of the mechanical properties of EK-164 austenitic steel.
In the first case, the coefficient of heat transfer from the outer surface of fuel-element cladding varied in the range
1000–5000 W/(m2·K). The calculations show that for α < 2000 W/(m2·K) the attainable equivalent stress exceeds the yield
point of the steel, which results in stress-induced failure of the cladding (see Table 1 and Fig. 2).

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 In the case of cooling by boiling sodium, the coefficient of heat transfer from the outer surface of the fuel-element
cladding varies in the interval (5–10)·104 W/(m2·K); the fuel element cladding does not fail. In the case of cooling by sodium
in the film-boiling regime – α = 100–500 W/(m2·K) – the time to failure of the fuel-element cladding under stress equals
3.9–4.6 sec. In the absence of stresses (in reality, stress-induced cladding failure occurs), the time to melting of the cladding
equals 6.9–9 sec depending on the coefficient of heat transfer, which varies in the indicated range.
It follows from the calculations that the ratio of the stresses due to the pressure of gaseous fission products and the
tangential and meridional thermal stresses can vary over a wide range. At the moment of cladding failure in the presence of film
boiling and in the molten-sodium cooling regime, the stresses due to the pressure of gaseous fission products equal 28–140%
of the absolute value.
In summary, according to the working model presented above the time to failure of the cladding under the mecha-
nisms studied depends strongly on the conditions of cooling of the fuel element.

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