Phase-field modeling of radiation-induced composition redistribution: An application to additively manufactured austenitic Fe–Cr–Ni
Multicomponent alloys undergoing irradiation damage develop radiation-induced composition redistribution at point defect sinks such as grain boundaries (GBs) and dislocations. Such redistribution results in undesired changes to their mechanical behavior and corrosion resistance. Additively manufactured alloys proposed for future nuclear applications are expected to demonstrate a distinct response to irradiation owing to their unique microstructure […]
Deployment of BISON models of fuel restructuring at high burnup and related fission gas behavior in UO2
This milestone report details the advancements made in fiscal year 2024 under the Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program to improve the modeling of fission gas behavior in high burnup UO2 nuclear fuel in the BISON fuel performance code. As nuclear fuel is pushed to higher burnups, significant microstructural changes occur within the […]
A New Reduced Order Model For The Mechanistic Creep Behavior Of UO2
This manuscript describes an ongoing NEAMS effort to better determine the performance of advanced nuclear fuels, in particular the creep behavior of doped UO$_2$ for light water reactors. In our previous work, we outlined a method to utilize data generated from lower length scale simulations and implement it into the engineering scale fuel performance analysis. […]
Predicting thermophysical properties of molten salts in the MgCl2-NaCl-KCl-LiCl system with a shell-model potential
Ternary eutectic salts composed of MgCl2, NaCl, and KCl, referred to as MNK salts, have recently emerged as promising materials for high-temperature heat transfer fluids. In this study, we have performed classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to predict the densities, specific heat capacities, viscosities, and ionic self-diffusivities for MNK salts over a wide temperature range. […]
Multi-scale modeling of fuel fragmentation and microstructural evolution
An overview of NEAMS program activities to model fuel fragmentation and microstructual evolution to a group of industry attendees at a meeting hosted by EPRI. Topics include atomistic methods to determine grain boundary strength, phase-field fracture modeling to determine critical pressure at grain boundaries, and coupled phase-field-cluster dynamics to model microstructural evolution.
3.0 MOOSE: Enabling massively parallel multiphysics simulation
The development of MOOSE has kept accelerating since the last release, with over 2,100 pull requests merged over the last 30 months that involved nearly fifty contributors across close to a dozen institutions internationally. The growth in MOOSE’s capabilities and downstream applications is reflected in the growth of the community. User support provided on the […]
Compare Mechanistic Predictions for Doped UO2 Mechanical Response and Other Properties with Empirical Models and Experimental Measurements
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation program develops predictive capabilities using computational methods for the analysis and design of advanced reactor and fuel cycle systems. This program has been supporting the development of BISON, a high-fidelity, high resolution fuel performance tool at the engineering scale. As part of its development, […]
Bayesian uncertainty quantification of tristructural isotropic particle fuel silver release: Decomposing model inadequacy plus experimental noise and parametric uncertainties
Tristructural isotropic (TRISO) particle fuel is one of the most promising fuel concepts enabling high temperature and high burnup reactor operation. One dominant source of radioactivity released from the TRISO particles is silver (Ag), which is subject to a high release fraction and long decay life compared to other fission products. Previous modeling efforts using […]
Compare predictions of transient fission gas release by empirical and mechanistic models to experiments in high burnup UO2 fuel
Understanding and predicting fuel performance at high burnup require improving our understanding of transient fission gas release. High-burnup operations enable new mechanisms of fission gas release, which affect fuel performance. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has recently published its interpretation of existing fuel fragmentation, relocation, and dispersal data in a research information letter. There, transient fission […]
Massively Parallel Bayesian Model Calibration and Uncertainty Quantification with Applications to Nuclear Fuels and Materials
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program aims to develop predictive capabilities by applying computational methods to the analysis and design of advanced reactor and fuel cycle systems. This program has been providing engineering-scale support for the development of BISON, a high-fidelity and high-resolution fuel performance tool. Fuel […]