|
|
Abstract
B. Boer, A.M. Ougouag, J.L. Kloosterman, and G.K. Miller,
Stress Analysis of Coated Particle Fuel in Graphite of High-Temperature Reactors,
Nuclear Technology, 162:276-292, 2008.
The PArticle STress Analysis (PASTA) code was written to evaluate stresses in coated particle fuel embedded
in grahite of high-temperature reactors (HTRs). Existing models for predicting stresses in coated particle
fuels were extended with a treatment of stresses induced by dimensional change of the matrix graphite and
stresses caused by neighbouring particles.
PASTA was applied to two practical cases in order to evaluate the significance of this model extension.
Thermal hydraulics, neutronics, and fuel depletion calculation tools were used to calculate the fuel
conditons in these cases. Stresses in the first fuel loading of the High Temperture Engineering Test
Reactor (HTTR) and in the fuel of a 400-MW(thermal) pebble bed reactor were analyzed.
It is found that the presence of the matrix material plays a significant role in the determination
of the stresses that apply to a single isolated TRISO particle as well as in the transmittal of the
stresses between particles in actual pebble designs.
| |
