The impact of azimuthally asymmetric carbon deposition upon pellet-clad mechanical interaction in advanced gas reactor fuel

Cracked nuclear fuel pellets were modelled in the r-θ plane with an azimuthally varying clad surface temperature boundary condition using the PELICAN set of fuel performance models for the commercial finite element software, Abaqus. The temperature boundary condition was assumed to represent heat transfer impairment due to an azimuthally asymmetric carbon deposit on advanced gas-cooled reactor pins. The model predicts the radial and azimuthal displacement of the idealised fuel fragments, together with the resulting elastic, creep and plastic strains in the cladding. These were compared to simulations assuming a uniformly hot or cold boundary condition. Apart from a short period during the return to power from reduced power (70%) operation and outages, the hoop stress in the simulation with an azimuthally varying clad surface temperature was bounded by that of models with a uniform hot or cold surface temperature. The reduced stress was proposed to be due to the greater ability of the fuel fragments to relocate in order to accommodate changes to the power level. As a result, the creep strains in the model with an azimuthally varying clad surface temperature were lower than assuming either a uniform hot or cold boundary condition.