Stress concentration during pellet cladding interaction: Comparison of closed-form solutions with 2D(r,θ) finite element simulations

• This paper presents closed-formed solutions concerning pellet cladding interaction.
• First, the opening of a radial crack in a pellet fragment is estimated.
• Second, the stresses in the cladding in front of the pellet crack are calculated.
• The closed-formed solutions are found in good agreement with 2D FE simulations.
• They are then used in the fuel code ALCYONE to model PCI during power ramps.

This paper presents two closed-form solutions that can be used to enrich the mechanical description of fuel pellets and cladding behavior in standard one-dimensional based fuel performance codes. The first one is concerned with the estimation of the opening of a radial crack in a pellet fragment induced by the radial thermal gradient in the pellet and limited by the pellet-clad contact pressure. The second one describes the stress distribution in a cladding bore in front of an opening pellet crack. A linear angular variation of the pellet-clad contact pressure and a constant prescribed radial displacement are considered. The closed-form solutions are checked by comparison to independent finite element models of the pellet fragment and of the cladding. Their ability to describe non-axisymmetric displacement and stress fields during loading histories representative of base irradiation and power ramps is then demonstrated by cross-comparison with the 2D pellet fragment-cladding model of the multi-dimensional fuel performance code ALCYONE. The calculated radial crack opening profiles at different times and the hoop stress concentration in the cladding at the top of the ramp are found in good agreement with ALCYONE.