Grain Boundary and Lattice Fracture Toughness of UO2 Measured Using Small-Scale Mechanics

Lin Feng; Sarah C. Finkeldei; Brent Heuser; Shen J. Dillon; Andrew T. Nelson

doi:10.1007/s11837-020-04118-3

Grain Boundary and Lattice Fracture Toughness of UO₂ Measured Using Small-Scale Mechanics

Lin Feng, Sarah C. Finkeldei, Brent Heuser, Shen J. Dillon, Andrew T. Nelson

Nuclear Energy and Fuel Cycle Division

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Small-scale mechanical testing has been used to isolate the properties of individual grain boundaries and regions of the lattice in undoped UO₂ polycrystals. Notched microcantilever specimens were prepared by focused ion beam milling and tested in bending. Fracture toughness values were calculated from finite element analysis of the sample geometry at fracture load using the J-integral method. Lattice and grain boundary fracture toughness values of 1.17 ± 0.16 MPa m^1/2 and 1.08 ± 0.08 MPa m^1/2, respectively, were obtained. The similarity between the lattice and grain boundary fracture toughness values is consistent with the preference for transgranular room-temperature fracture in UO₂. The grain boundary and lattice fracture toughness values also agree well with the toughness of dense polycrystals, which suggests that microstructural-scale toughening mechanisms are limited in such samples.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	2075-2081
Number of pages	7
Journal	JOM
Volume	72
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-020-04118-3
State	Published - May 1 2020

Funding

The work presented in this paper was supported by the Advanced Fuels Campaign of the Nuclear Technology Research and Development program in the Office of Nuclear Energy, US Department of Energy. The work presented in this paper was supported by the Advanced Fuels Campaign of the Nuclear Technology Research and Development program in the Office of Nuclear Energy, US Department of Energy.

Funders	Funder number
US Department of Energy
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Nuclear Energy

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10.1007/s11837-020-04118-3

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abstract = "Small-scale mechanical testing has been used to isolate the properties of individual grain boundaries and regions of the lattice in undoped UO2 polycrystals. Notched microcantilever specimens were prepared by focused ion beam milling and tested in bending. Fracture toughness values were calculated from finite element analysis of the sample geometry at fracture load using the J-integral method. Lattice and grain boundary fracture toughness values of 1.17 ± 0.16 MPa m1/2 and 1.08 ± 0.08 MPa m1/2, respectively, were obtained. The similarity between the lattice and grain boundary fracture toughness values is consistent with the preference for transgranular room-temperature fracture in UO2. The grain boundary and lattice fracture toughness values also agree well with the toughness of dense polycrystals, which suggests that microstructural-scale toughening mechanisms are limited in such samples.",

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AU - Nelson, Andrew T.

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Grain Boundary and Lattice Fracture Toughness of UO₂ Measured Using Small-Scale Mechanics

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