NSUF 23-4673: In-situ high temperature micro-tensile testing of reactor irradiated HT9 cladding

HT9 cladding used in sodium fast reactors can experience dramatical microstructure and composition changes during irradiation, including fuel cladding chemical interaction with uranium based metallic fuel. Such changed can influence material properties. However, current understanding is based on indirect estimation out of nano-indentation results. Therefore, a direct tensile strength measurement on irradiated HT9 cladding is critical for a better understanding of the irradiation effect on cladding for robust cladding performance modeling. Moreover, such information can inform future cladding design. In this RTE project, in-situ push-to-pull mechanical tensile testing will be conducted to measure tensile strength in two representative reactor-irradiated HT9 samples (proposed to be performed for October 2023). Two samples which presented different irradiation induced effects are proposed, MNT83T and MNT20E. Moreover, TEM characterization is proposed on a subset of sample to evaluate the relation between mechanical properties and chemical and microstructural changes in the cladding. The data will fill the knowledge gap between embrittlement of HT9 cladding and actual grain boundary strength of cladding.

Additional Info

Field	Value
Abstract	HT9 cladding used in sodium fast reactors can experience dramatical microstructure and composition changes during irradiation, including fuel cladding chemical interaction with uranium based metallic fuel. Such changed can influence material properties. However, current understanding is based on indirect estimation out of nano-indentation results. Therefore, a direct tensile strength measurement on irradiated HT9 cladding is critical for a better understanding of the irradiation effect on cladding for robust cladding performance modeling. Moreover, such information can inform future cladding design. In this RTE project, in-situ push-to-pull mechanical tensile testing will be conducted to measure tensile strength in two representative reactor-irradiated HT9 samples (proposed to be performed for October 2023). Two samples which presented different irradiation induced effects are proposed, MNT83T and MNT20E. Moreover, TEM characterization is proposed on a subset of sample to evaluate the relation between mechanical properties and chemical and microstructural changes in the cladding. The data will fill the knowledge gap between embrittlement of HT9 cladding and actual grain boundary strength of cladding.
Award Announced Date	2023-09-14T13:36:06.937
Awarded Institution	None
Facility	None
Facility Tech Lead	Alina Zackrone
Irradiation Facility	None
PI	Fidelma Di Lemma
PI Email	[email protected]
Project Type	RTE
RTE Number	None