Study on the Thermal-Mechanical Performance of SiC Composites Cladding Under Multiple Conditions

Author(s):  
Chunyu Yin

Abstract SiC has become a candidate cladding material of Accident Tolerant Fuels (ATF) due to its excellent irradiation stability and corrosion resistance. However, because SiC is a ceramic material with low toughness, brittle failure is a significant concern. In order to improve the toughness, SiC fiber is required to manufacture multi-layer SiC composites. But the current performance model or analysis tool is not available for SiC composites cladding due to its obviously difference with Zr alloy cladding. On one side, Finite element method was used in this paper to analyze the performance of SiC composites cladding under operation conditions which include normal, transient conditions and LOCA conditions; on the other side, this paper gives the performance of the SiC composites with two layers under multiple operating conditions. The result showed that the temperature was stable and the maximum hoop stress was reached at about 70d under normal condition. The power ramp can increase the cladding temperature and has visible influence on the stress distribution. The hoop stress of the cladding reversed under LOCA condition. The tensile hoop stress on the outer surface significantly increased, which caused the obvious increase of failure probability of monolithic SiC, and the failure probability of SiC layer is significantly increased. The conclusion of the analysis has guiding significance for the theoretical design of SiC composites.

Author(s):  
Hector Hernandez Lopez ◽  
Javier Ortiz Villafuerte

Currently, at the Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Nucleares (National Institute for Nuclear Research) in Mexico, it is being developed a computational code for evaluating the neutronic, thermal and mechanical performance of a fuel element at several different operation conditions. The code is referred as to MCTP (Multigrupos con Temperaturas y Potencia), and is benchmarked against data from the Laguna Verde Nuclear Power Plant (LVNPP). In the code, the neutron flux is approximated by six groups of energy: one group in the thermal region (E < 0.625 eV), four in the resonances region (0.625 eV < E < 0.861 MeV), and one group in the fast region (E > 0.861 MeV). Thus, the code is able to determine the damage to the cladding due to fast neutrons. The temperature distribution is approximated in both axial and radial directions taking into account the changes in the coolant density, for both the single and two-phase regions in a BWR channel. It also considerate the changes in the thermal conductivity of all materials involved for the temperature calculations, as well as the temperature and density effects in the neutron cross sections. In the code, fuel rod burnup is evaluated. Also, plutonium production and poison production from fission. In this work, the neutronic and thermal performance of fuel rods in a 10×10 fuel assembly is evaluated. The fuel elements have a content of 235U. The fuel assembly was introduced to the unit 1 of LVNPP reactor core in the cycle 9 of operation, and will stay in during three cycles. In the analysis of fuel rod performance, the operating conditions are those for the cycle 9 and 10, whereas for the current cycle (cycle 11) the reactor is projected to operate during 460 days. The analysis for cycle 11 uses the actual location of the fuel assembly that will have in the core. The results show that the fuel rods analyzed did not reach the thermal limits during the cycles 9 and 10, as expected, and for cycle 11 the same thermal limits are not predicted to be reached.


Computation ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi Zhou ◽  
Zhong Xiao ◽  
Shichao Liu ◽  
Ping Chen ◽  
Hua Pang ◽  
...  

The effect of non-fuel part size on the thermal-mechanical performance of fully ceramic microencapsulated (FCMTM) Fuel was investigated, and the non-fuel part size was selected according to integrity maintaining of non-fuel part and silicon carbide (SiC) layers. The non-fuel part size can affect the FCMTM temperature and stress distribution greatly by changing the distance between tristructural isotropic (TRISO) particles. The maximum temperature of SiC matrix increased from 1220 K to 1450 K with the non-fuel part size increasing from 100 μm to 500 μm, and the matrix temperature of all the samples was lower than the decomposition point of SiC ceramics. The maximum hoop stress decreased with non-fuel part size, but the inner part exhibiteda crosscurrent trend. The inner part of the SiC matrix lost structure integrity because of the large hoop stress caused by the deformation of TRISO particles, however, the non-fuel parts of FCMTM pellet may maintain their integrity when the non-fuel part size was larger than 300 μm. SiC layers hoop stress increased with non-fuel part size, and the failure probability of SiC layer was lower than 2.2 × 10−4 for the FCMTM pellet with small non-fuel part size. The integrity of non-fuel and SiC layers can be maintained for the FCMTM pellet with the non-fuel part size from 300 μm to 400 μm.


Mathematics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ping Chen ◽  
Suizheng Qiu ◽  
Shichao Liu ◽  
Yi Zhou ◽  
Yong Xin ◽  
...  

In this paper, a two-dimensional characteristic unit was used to simulate the thermal–mechanical performance of a fully ceramic microencapsulated (FCM) fuel pellet, and the criterion of FCM structure integrity was discussed. FCM structure integrity can be reflected though the integrity of the silicon carbide (SiC) matrix or SiC layers because of the excellent fission retention capability of SiC ceramics. The maximum temperature of the SiC matrix under normal conditions of the pressure water reactor (PWR) environment was about 1390 K, which was lower than the decomposition point of SiC. The maximum hoop stress of the SiC matrix, especially the inner part, was up to about 1200 MPa, and the hoop stress of the non-fuel region part was lower than the inner part, which can be attributed to the deformation of tristructural-isotopic (TRISO) particles. The hoop stress of the SiC layers at the end of life was only about 180 MPa, which is much lower than the strength of the chemical vapor deposition (CVD)-SiC. The failure probability of the SiC layer was lower than 9 × 10−5; thus, the integrity of SiC layers and the fission retention capability were maintained. The structure integrity of FCM fuel was broken because the SiC matrix cracked.


2016 ◽  
Vol 848 ◽  
pp. 32-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sui Juan Zeng ◽  
Jin Shan Yu ◽  
Xin Gui Zhou ◽  
Hong Lei Wang

SiC nanowires were in-situ grown in SiC fiber fabrics by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process via pyrolysis of polycarbosilane (PCS) at 1300°C and 1400°C, respectively. Then SiCf/SiC composites were fabricated with the fabrics by polymer and infiltration pyrolysis (PIP) process. Single-filament tensile strengths of the SiC fibers heat treated at different temperature were measured. It was indicated that the mechanical property of the KD-ISiC fiber significantly degenerated above 1100°C, especially at 1400°C. Nevertheless, the prepared SiCf/SiC composite with in-situ grown SiC nanowires exhibited good mechanical performance, suggesting that the SiC nanowire is an effective reinforcement for the SiCf/SiC composite.


Electronics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 581
Author(s):  
Yongbae Kim ◽  
Juyong Back ◽  
Jongweon Kim

A tachograph in a vehicle records the vehicle operating conditions, such as speed, distance, brake operation conditions, acceleration, GPS information, etc., in intervals of one second. For accidents, the tachograph records information, such as the acceleration and direction of a vehicle traveling in intervals of 1/100 s for 10 s before and after the accident occurs as collision data. A vehicle equipped with a tachograph is obliged to upload operation data to administrative organizations periodically via other auxiliary storage devices like a USB attached external memory or online wireless communication. If there is a problem with the recorded contents, data may be at risk of being tampered with during the uploading process. This research proposed tamper-resistant technology based on blockchain for data in online and offline environments. The suggested algorithm proposed a new data recording mechanism that operates in low-level hardware of digital tachographs for tamper-resistance in light blockchains and on/offline situations. The average encoding time of the proposed light blockchain was 1.85 ms/Mb, while the average decoding time was 1.65 ms/Mb. With the outliers in statistical tests removed, the estimated average encoding and decoding time was 1.32 ms/Mb and 1.29 ms/Mb, respectively, and the tamper verification test detected all the tampered data.


Catalysts ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 412
Author(s):  
Mirosław K. Szukiewicz ◽  
Krzysztof Kaczmarski

A dynamic model of the hydrogenation of benzene to cyclohexane reaction in a real-life industrial reactor is elaborated. Transformations of the model leading to satisfactory results are presented and discussed. Operating conditions accepted in the simulations are identical to those observed in the chemical plant. Under those conditions, some components of the reaction mixture vanish, and the diffusion coefficients of the components vary along the reactor (they are strongly concentration-dependent). We came up with a final reactor model predicting with reasonable accuracy the reaction mixture’s outlet composition and temperature profile throughout the process. Additionally, the model enables the anticipation of catalyst activity and the remaining deactivated catalyst lifetime. Conclusions concerning reactor operation conditions resulting from the simulations are presented as well. Since the model provides deep insight into the process of simulating, it allows us to make knowledge-based decisions. It should be pointed out that improvements in the process run, related to operating conditions, or catalyst application, or both on account of the high scale of the process and its expected growth, will remarkably influence both the profits and environmental protection.


2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chang-Yong YI ◽  
Han-Seong GWAK ◽  
Dong-Eun LEE

Low carbon construction is an important operation management goal because greenhouse gas (GHG) reduc­tion has become a global concern. Major construction resources that contribute GHG, such as equipment and labour, are being targeted to achieve this goal. The GHG emissions produced by the resources vary with their operating conditions. It is commendable to provide a statistical GHG emission estimation method that models the transitory nature of resource states at micro-scale of construction operations. This paper proposes a computational method called Stochastic Carbon Emission Estimation (SCE2) that measures the variability of GHG emissions. It creates construction operation models consisting of atomic work tasks, utilizes hourly equipment fuel consumption and hourly labourer respiratory rates that change according to their operating conditions classified into five categories, and identifies an optimal resource combi­nation by trading off eco-economic performance metrics such as the amount of GHG emissions, operation completion time, operation completion cost, and productivity. The study is of value to researchers because SCE2 fill in a gap to eco-economic operation modelling and analysis tool which considers operating conditions at micro-scale of construction operation having many stochastic work tasks. This study is also relevance to practitioners because it allows project man­agers to achieve eco-economic goals while honouring predefined constraints associated with time and cost.


Author(s):  
S. Eshati ◽  
M. F. Abdul Ghafir ◽  
P. Laskaridis ◽  
Y. G. Li

This paper investigates the relationship between design parameters and creep life consumption of stationary gas turbines using a physics based life model. A representative thermodynamic performance model is used to simulate engine performance. The output from the performance model is used as an input to the physics based model. The model consists of blade sizing model which sizes the HPT blade using the constant nozzle method, mechanical stress model which performs the stress analysis, thermal model which performs thermal analysis by considering the radial distribution of gas temperature, and creep model which using the Larson-miller parameter to calculate the lowest blade creep life. The effect of different parameters including radial temperature distortion factor (RTDF), material properties, cooling effectiveness and turbine entry temperatures (TET) is investigated. The results show that different design parameter combined with a change in operating conditions can significantly affect the creep life of the HPT blade and the location along the span of the blade where the failure could occur. Using lower RTDF the lowest creep life is located at the lower section of the span, whereas at higher RTDF the lowest creep life is located at the upper side of the span. It also shows that at different cooling effectiveness and TET for both materials the lowest blade creep life is located between the mid and the tip of the span. The physics based model was found to be simple and useful tool to investigate the impact of the above parameters on creep life.


2011 ◽  
Vol 115 (1164) ◽  
pp. 83-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Bao ◽  
J. Qin ◽  
W. X. Zhou

Abstract A re-cooled cycle has been proposed for a regeneratively cooled scramjet to reduce the hydrogen fuel flow for cooling. Upon the completion of the first cooling, fuel can be used for secondary cooling by transferring the enthalpy from fuel to work. Fuel heat sink (cooling capacity) is thus repeatedly used and fuel heat sink is indirectly increased. Instead of carrying excess fuel for cooling or seeking for any new coolant, the cooling fuel flow is reduced, and fuel onboard is adequate to satisfy the cooling requirement for the whole hypersonic vehicle. A performance model considering flow and heat transfer is build. A model sensitivity study of inlet temperature and pressure reveals that, for given exterior heating condition and cooling panel size, fuel heat sink can be obviously increased at moderate inlet temperature and pressure. Simultaneously the low-temperature heat transfer deterioration and Mach number constrains can also be avoided.


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