Joint modeling of thermal creep and radiation damage interaction with gas permeability and release dynamics: The role of percolation

M. Ovaska and M.J. Alava

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 2015, vol. 436, issue C, 538-546

Abstract: Nuclear fuel material is an example of a sintered, porous ceramic material. We formulate a two-dimensional model which couples three physical mechanisms in the material: (scalar) damage accumulation by thermal creep and radiation effects, porosity changes due to the damage, and the time-dependent diffusion of (radiation-induced) gases in the pore system thus created. The most important effect in the dynamics arises from the process where the pore system is swept through the percolation transition. The main conclusions that can be drawn concern the fractional gas release and its dependence on the three effects present in the damage dynamics: creep, radiation-induced bubble formation, and recovery due to bubble closure. In the main, the model reproduces the experimentally observed quick gas release phenomenon qualitatively.

Keywords: Dynamical percolation; Damage mechanics; Porous media; Diffusion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:436:y:2015:i:c:p:538-546

DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2015.05.068

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