Numerical characterization of thermo-mechanical performance of breeder pebble beds

A numerical approach using the discrete element method (DEM) has been applied to study the thermo-mechanical properties of ceramic breeder pebble beds. This numerical scheme is able to predict the inelastic behavior observed in a loading and unloading operation. In addition, it demonstrates that the average value of contact force increases linearly with overall pressure, but at a much faster rate, about 3.4 times the overall pressure increase rate. In this paper, the thermal creep properties of two different ceramic breeder pebble materials, Li4SiO4 and Li2O, are also examined by the current numerical code. The difference found in the properties of candidate materials is reflected numerically in the overall strain in the pebble bed when the stress magnitude becomes smaller.