NSUF 23-4634: Correlative Atom Probe Tomography of the Buffer-IPyC Interlayer Region of TRISO-coated Particles

Research is being conducted (DOE NEUP 17251 “Thermomechanical Properties of TRISO Fuel Coating Layers”) to assess the tensile strength and hardness characteristics of surrogate fueled, unirradiated fueled, and irradiated fueled tristructural isotropic (TRISO)-coated fuel particles along the buffer-inner pyrolytic carbon (IPyC) interlayer region. From the buffer-IPyC interlayer region of the parent TRISO particle samples, atom probe tips can be prepared for correlative atom probe tomography (APT) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) characterization. Results will be novel quantification of the fission product precipitate clusters and microstructural defects of this interlayer region. Additional investigation of the buffer-IPyC region for nanoscale fission product precipitate clusters and microstructural defects would significantly strengthen the value of hardness/mechanical data collected in DOE NEUP 17251. The data will be analyzed for any correlation among hardness, microstructural defects, and nanoscale fission product precipitate cluster distribution. Predictive behavior correlations of TRISO particle layers would be made available for use by computational material scientists and potentially accelerate TRISO particle fuel qualification. The unirradiated and irradiated fueled TRISO particle layer samples will be the focus of this study, with five samples of each type being fabricated and tested over a two-week period (eight working days) at the Irradiated Materials Characterization Laboratory (IMCL) at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). This two-week period is expected to occur between July and September of 2023.

Additional Info

Field	Value
Abstract	Research is being conducted (DOE NEUP 17251 “Thermomechanical Properties of TRISO Fuel Coating Layers”) to assess the tensile strength and hardness characteristics of surrogate fueled, unirradiated fueled, and irradiated fueled tristructural isotropic (TRISO)-coated fuel particles along the buffer-inner pyrolytic carbon (IPyC) interlayer region. From the buffer-IPyC interlayer region of the parent TRISO particle samples, atom probe tips can be prepared for correlative atom probe tomography (APT) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) characterization. Results will be novel quantification of the fission product precipitate clusters and microstructural defects of this interlayer region. Additional investigation of the buffer-IPyC region for nanoscale fission product precipitate clusters and microstructural defects would significantly strengthen the value of hardness/mechanical data collected in DOE NEUP 17251. The data will be analyzed for any correlation among hardness, microstructural defects, and nanoscale fission product precipitate cluster distribution. Predictive behavior correlations of TRISO particle layers would be made available for use by computational material scientists and potentially accelerate TRISO particle fuel qualification. The unirradiated and irradiated fueled TRISO particle layer samples will be the focus of this study, with five samples of each type being fabricated and tested over a two-week period (eight working days) at the Irradiated Materials Characterization Laboratory (IMCL) at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). This two-week period is expected to occur between July and September of 2023.
Award Announced Date	2023-06-01T09:07:27.39
Awarded Institution	None
Facility	None
Facility Tech Lead	Alina Zackrone
Irradiation Facility	None
PI	Tanner Mauseth
PI Email	[email protected]
Project Type	RTE
RTE Number	None