3D modelling of strain concentration due to PCI within the fuel code ALCYONE
Abstract
In this paper, the 3D scheme of the fuel code ALCYONE is applied to a database consisting of more than 50 base irradiations and ramp tests performed on rods with UO 2 , MOX or Cr-doped UO 2 fuels and Zy4 or M5__ cladding tubes with burn-ups up to 70 GWd/tU. The ability of the 3D scheme to predict the behaviour of a single fuel pellet -cladding element situated at the maximum Linear Heat Rate (LHR) during ramp testing is demonstrated by comparing the following experimental and calculated data: residual clad diameter after base irradiation and ramp test, height of inter-pellet and mid-pellet ridges after base irradiation and ramp test, dish filling after ramp test. In the second part of the paper, 3D simulations that catch the stress -strain localization at the triple point are presented. It is shown that the stress-strain concentration occurs only at the end of the power transient and is quickly relaxed by pellet and clad creep.
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BibTeX
@misc{sercombe2026modelling,
title = {{3D modelling of strain concentration due to PCI within the fuel code ALCYONE}},
author = {J. Sercombe and Jérôme Julien and Frederic Michel and Bruno Michel and Éric Fédérici},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.29236},
eprint = {2609.29236},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.29236},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - 3D modelling of strain concentration due to PCI within the fuel code ALCYONE
AU - J. Sercombe
AU - Jérôme Julien
AU - Frederic Michel
AU - Bruno Michel
AU - Éric Fédérici
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/24
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.29236
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.29236
AB - In this paper, the 3D scheme of the fuel code ALCYONE is applied to a database consisting of more than 50 base irradiations and ramp tests performed on rods with UO 2 , MOX or Cr-doped UO 2 fuels and Zy4 or M5__ cladding tubes with burn-ups up to 70 GWd/tU. The ability of the 3D scheme to predict the behaviour of a single fuel pellet -cladding element situated at the maximum Linear Heat Rate (LHR) during ramp testing is demonstrated by comparing the following experimental and calculated data: residual clad diameter after base irradiation and ramp test, height of inter-pellet and mid-pellet ridges after base irradiation and ramp test, dish filling after ramp test. In the second part of the paper, 3D simulations that catch the stress -strain localization at the triple point are presented. It is shown that the stress-strain concentration occurs only at the end of the power transient and is quickly relaxed by pellet and clad creep.
ER -