Viscoelastic modelling of Zircaloy cladding in-pile transient creep

摘要

In fuel behaviour modelling accurate description of the cladding stress response is important for both operational and safety considerations. The cladding creep determines in part the width of the gas gap, the duration to pellet-cladding contact and the stresses to the cladding due to the pellet expansion. Conventionally the strain hardening rule has been used to describe the creep response to transient loads in engineering applications. However, it has been well documented that the strain hardening rule does not describe well results of tests with load drops or reversals.