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Fracture‐Surface Energy and Fracture Toughness of (U,Pu)C and (U,Pu(C,O)
Author(s) -
MATZKE HANSJOACHIM,
MEYRITZ VOLKER,
ROUTBORT JULES L.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
journal of the american ceramic society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 196
eISSN - 1551-2916
pISSN - 0002-7820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1151-2916.1983.tb10013.x
Subject(s) - fracture toughness , materials science , indentation , grain boundary , composite material , transgranular fracture , carbide , fracture mechanics , metallurgy , intergranular fracture , microstructure
The fracture surface energy, γ f , and the fracture toughness, K 1c , were measured for the advanced fast‐breeder reactor fuels (U 0.80 Pu 0.20 )C and (U 0.82 Pu 0.18 ) C 0.9 O 0.1 , using the method of Hertzian indentation with steel indentors. Elastic behavior was observed with transgranular cracks yielding K 1c , values of ∼ 1.5 MN·m −3/2 . The surface energy of the oxicarbide was smaller than that of the carbide. Annealing of the (U,Pu) (C,O) led to a completely different behavior. Permanent “quasi‐plastic” deformation was observed, in addition to Hertzian ring cracks, due to pronounced grain‐boundary weakening and grain separation. The plausible cause, i. e. precipitation of He formed by decaying Pu into grain‐boundary bubbles, indicates that the in‐pile behavior of a nuclear fuel after some burn‐up does not necessarily correspond to the behavior observed in laboratory experiments, even in the absence of restructuring due to thermal gradients that exist during operation.