Experimental characterization and modeling of UO2 grain boundary cracking at high temperatures and high strain rates

In this paper, the behavior of a dense UO2 (porosity less than 2%) was studied experimentally on a range of temperatures (1100-1700 °C) and strain rates (10-4-10-1/s) representative of RIA loading conditions. The yield stress was found to increase with strain rate and to decrease with temperature. Macroscopic cracking of the samples was apparent after the tests at 1100 °C. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) image analyses revealed a pronounced grain boundary cracking in the core of the samples tested at 10-1/s and at 1550-1700 °C. A hyperbolic sine model for the viscoplastic strain rate with a clear dependency on porosity was first developed. It was completed by a Drucker-Prager yield criterion with associated plastic flow to account for the porosity increase induced by grain boundary cracking. Finite Elements simulations of the compression tests on the dense UO2 were then successfully compared to the stress-strain curves, post-test diameter profiles and porosities at the pellets' center, periphery and top extremity. The response of the grain boundary cracking model was then studied in biaxial compression, this condition being closer to that of the pellet during a RIA power transient.