Mechanical and thermal properties of (U,Pu)O

Hirooka, Shun; Kato, Masato

Proceedings of International Conference on Fast Reactors and Related Fuel Cycles; Next Generation Nuclear Systems for Sustainable Development (FR-17) (USB Flash Drive), 6 Pages, 2017/06

Young's modulus of MOX pellets was evaluated by measuring the sound velocities of longitudinal and transverse waves in the pellets as functions of porosity, oxygen-to-metal ratio (O/M) and plutonium content. The results showed that porosity was the most important factor that 20% of the porosity decreased Young's modulus by neatly 100 GPa while O/M and plutonium content could change the Young's modulus by ~20 GPa. From the measured sound velocities, temperature dependence on Young's modulus and specific heat capacity were calculated on the Debye model by leveraging the thermal expansion data. The temperature dependence that Young's modulus decreases with increasing temperature is in good agreement with literature data. The specific heat capacity also agrees with that of calculated value by Kopp's method, taken the Schottky term and the excited term into account.