Abstract
A bending fatigue system developed to evaluate the response of spent nuclear fuel rods to vibration loads is presented. A U-frame testing setup is used for imposing bending loads on the fuel rod specimen. The U-frame setup consists of two rigid arms, side connecting plates to the rigid arms, and linkages to a universal testing machine. The test specimen's curvature is obtained through a three-point deflection measurement method. The tests using surrogate specimens with stainless steel cladding revealed increased flexural rigidity under unidirectional cyclic bending, significant effect of cladding-pellets bonding on the response of surrogate rods, and substantial cyclic softening in reverse bending mode. These phenomena may cast light on the expected response of a spent nuclear fuel rod. The developed U-frame system is thus verified and demonstrated to be ready for further pursuit in hot-cell tests.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 201-213 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Journal of Nuclear Materials |
| Volume | 440 |
| Issue number | 1-3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2013 |
Funding
The authors gratefully acknowledge Dr. James Hemrick for reviewing this manuscript. Authors also want to thank Brian Sparks, and Randy J. Parten of ORNL for their help in machining the components of the U-frame setup. The research was sponsored by NRC RES under DOE contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with UT-Battelle, LLC.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| U.S. Department of Energy | DE-AC05-00OR22725 |
| National Research Council |