UAlx

Arc melting of U & Al

powder mixture and
casting into ingot

Mechanical Pulverization (Jaw

crusher and hammer mill)

Sieving for size control

Irregular brittle particles with sharp

corners and cracks

Difficult to form pure aluminides

A mixture is always formed

 U-Si compounds

Arc melting /
Induction melting of
U & Si powder
mixture & casting

Annealing in inert
atmosphere

Mechanical Pulverization / Atomization on rotating disk

hardened steel mortar & pestle
in nitrogen in glove box

Sieving for size control

 Fission Gas Bubble Growth

Cavitational swelling only in a-phase

At higher burn ups, fission gas fill them and impart bubble like properties

For higher temperature phases, only fission gas swelling is present

Pi = Pex + 2g/r

Where Pi = internal equilibrium pressure

Pex = External pressure
g = surface tension of bubble
r = bubble radius

External pressure = Plastic flow characteristics of fuel surrounding the bubble

Pressure of medium external to fuel
Mechanical restraint of cladding when in contact with fuel
Swelling in Different Allotropes of Uranium
A Comparison

Burn up = 0.2 to 0.5 at.%

 Swelling
Cavitation overwhelmly dominated at 400-600oC
Fission Gas Build Up

Cavitational Swelling is relatively compressible

Mechanical tearing at grain and subgrain boundaries

unalloyed
Alloyed with Si and Fe (Al)
Swirled structure
Aligned intragranular tearing related with twin structure
500-600oC