Modelling of effective irradiation swelling for inert matrix fuels

The results of effective irradiation swelling in a wide range of burnup levels are numerically obtained for an inert matrix fuel, which are verified with DART model. The fission gas swelling of fuel particles is calculated with a mechanistic model, which depends on the external hydrostatic pressure. Additionally, irradiation and thermal creep effects are included in the inert matrix. The effects of matrix creep strains, external hydrostatic pressure and temperature on the effective irradiation swelling are investigated. The research results indicate that (1) the above effects are coupled with each other; (2) the matrix creep effects at high temperatures should be involved; and (3) ranged from 0 to 300 MPa, a remarkable dependence of external hydrostatic pressure can be found. Furthermore, an explicit multi-variable mathematic model is established for the effective irradiation swelling, as a function of particle volume fraction, temperature, external hydrostatic pressure and fuel particle fission density, which can well reproduce the finite element results. The mathematic model for the current volume fraction of fuel particles can help establish other effective performance models