NSUF 13-431: Study of the Microstructure of Kr and Xe Irradiated UO2 by Advanced Microscopy Techniques
The rapid turnaround experiment is to clarify the microstructure of UO2 before and after irradiation. To simulate fission fragments damage, 150 keV, 1 MeV and 1.8 MeV Kr and 300 keV Xe at Argonne National Laboratory and University of Illinois would be used to irradiate single crystal and polycrystalline UO2 as well as UO2 film samples. The TEM samples of UO2 before and after irradiation tests will be prepared by focused ion beams at CAES. The EBSD at CAES will be used to reveal the grain boundary (GB) character of polycrystalline UO2 and UO2 film samples and 300 kV Tecnai TF30-FEG TEM at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) will be used to reveal the microstructure of UO2 before and after Kr and Xe irradiation. Black dot defects at size of about 1 nm will be examined using weak beam dark field imaging. Dislocation loops and dislocation segments or dislocation networks will be examined and the Burgers vector will be analyzed. Cavities or bubbles in the grain and at GB will also be investigated. In addition, GB type (twin, low angle, high angle) will be determined by EBSD and the atomic level microstructure and GB chemistry will be revealed by high-resolution TEM and STEM/EDS/EELS. The comparison between the microstructure features of UO2 with various GB type will shed light on the GB effect on defect evolution and bubble formation under irradiation. Characterization of GB chemistry will provide essential information for understanding the thermal transport properties in UO2. The experimental microstructure characterization is to provide a fundamental foundation for the atomic-level modeling, which are conducted at INL, Purdue University and University of Florida. This rapid turnaround project includes FIB sample preparation, EBSD and TEM /EDS/EELS characterization, experimental data analysis and final report, which will take about 2 months in total. The proposed research will be performed in about 3 weeks at CAES, with 6 days for sample preparation and grain boundary characterization on the FIB/EBSD and 10 days for TEM investigations.
Additional Info
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Abstract | The rapid turnaround experiment is to clarify the microstructure of UO2 before and after irradiation. To simulate fission fragments damage, 150 keV, 1 MeV and 1.8 MeV Kr and 300 keV Xe at Argonne National Laboratory and University of Illinois would be used to irradiate single crystal and polycrystalline UO2 as well as UO2 film samples. The TEM samples of UO2 before and after irradiation tests will be prepared by focused ion beams at CAES. The EBSD at CAES will be used to reveal the grain boundary (GB) character of polycrystalline UO2 and UO2 film samples and 300 kV Tecnai TF30-FEG TEM at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) will be used to reveal the microstructure of UO2 before and after Kr and Xe irradiation. Black dot defects at size of about 1 nm will be examined using weak beam dark field imaging. Dislocation loops and dislocation segments or dislocation networks will be examined and the Burgers vector will be analyzed. Cavities or bubbles in the grain and at GB will also be investigated. In addition, GB type (twin, low angle, high angle) will be determined by EBSD and the atomic level microstructure and GB chemistry will be revealed by high-resolution TEM and STEM/EDS/EELS. The comparison between the microstructure features of UO2 with various GB type will shed light on the GB effect on defect evolution and bubble formation under irradiation. Characterization of GB chemistry will provide essential information for understanding the thermal transport properties in UO2. The experimental microstructure characterization is to provide a fundamental foundation for the atomic-level modeling, which are conducted at INL, Purdue University and University of Florida. This rapid turnaround project includes FIB sample preparation, EBSD and TEM /EDS/EELS characterization, experimental data analysis and final report, which will take about 2 months in total. The proposed research will be performed in about 3 weeks at CAES, with 6 days for sample preparation and grain boundary characterization on the FIB/EBSD and 10 days for TEM investigations. |
| Award Announced Date | 2013-07-23T00:00:00 |
| Awarded Institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Facility | Massachusetts Institute of Technology Reactor |
| Facility Tech Lead | Gordon Kohse, Yaqiao Wu |
| Irradiation Facility | None |
| PI | Lingfeng He |
| PI Email | [email protected] |
| Project Type | RTE |
| RTE Number | 431 |