Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108 Page 109 Page 110 Page 111 Page 112 Page 113 Page 114 Page 115 Page 116 Page 117 Page 118 Page 119 Page 120 Page 121 Page 122 Page 123 Page 124 Page 125 Page 126 Page 127 Page 128 Page 129 Page 130 Page 131 Page 132 Page 133 Page 134 Page 135 Page 136 Page 137 Page 138 Page 139 Page 140 Page 141 Page 142 Page 143 Page 144 Page 145 Page 146 Page 147 Page 148 Page 149 Page 150 Page 151 Page 152 Page 153 Page 154 Page 155 Page 156 Page 157 Page 158 Page 159 Page 160 Page 161 Page 162 Page 163 Page 164 Page 165 Page 166 Page 167 Page 168 Page 169 Page 170 Page 171 Page 172 Page 173 Page 174 Page 175 Page 176 Page 177 Page 178 Page 179 Page 180 Page 181 Page 182 Page 183 Page 184 Page 185 Page 186 Page 187 Page 188 Page 189 Page 190 Page 191 Page 192 Page 193 Page 194 Page 195 Page 196 Page 197 Page 198 Page 199 Page 200 Page 201 Page 202 Page 203 Page 204 Page 205 Page 206 Page 207 Page 208 Page 209 Page 210 Page 211 Page 212 Page 213 Page 214 Page 215 Page 216 Page 217 Page 218 Page 219 Page 220 Page 221 Page 222 Page 223 Page 224 Page 225 Page 226 Page 227 Page 228 Page 229 Page 230 Page 231 Page 232 Page 233 Page 234 Page 235 Page 236 Page 237 Page 238 Page 239 Page 240 Page 241 Page 2422016 | AFC ACCOMPLISHMENTS 101 This occurs in the material during the normal operation of the fuel when a high flux of neutron irradiation and a high radial heat flux are simultane- ously present. Both the simplified analytical and detailed finite element modeling results indicate that magni- tude of the stress will be high enough to probabilistically induce cracking on the inner surface of the cladding that experiences tensile stress. In the SiC- based cladding, the stress magnitude may result in a significant probability of cladding failure in typical operating conditions for the light water reactors. In order to verify the multi-physics finite element analysis predictions of this unique stress state, a novel experi- ment capturing the synergism of a high radiation field and a high radial heat flux in tubular SiC specimens had been designed and implemented in the High Flux Isotope Reactor, Oak Ridge National Laboratory. In this experiment, small diameter tubular test specimens made of monolithic or composite SiC were irradiated to a dose of ~2E+25 n/m2 (E > 0.1 MeV) under a radial heat flux of ~0.6 MW/m2 while the outer surface temperature was maintained at a target temperature of ~300°C achieving a steep temperature gradient through the cladding wall thickness.The initial investigation of irradiated tubular specimens indicated the temperature gradient along thickness of the tube wall as expected. Accomplishments: Specimens in a tubular geometry were irradiated under a high radial heat flux.The specimens were made of high purity CVD SiC, SiC/SiC composite, or a layered structure consisting of composite and mono- lithic CVD SiC.The composite and layered tubes were designed and fabricated by General Atomics.The irradiation is performed in the Flux Trap Rabbit facility of the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) at ORNL. Neutron fluence was chosen to be 2 dpa to ensure that the saturation is achieved for swelling and thermal conductivity change.The target temperature for the specimens at their outer surfaces were 573K.Achieving the target irradiation temperature is a significant challenge in this experi- ment due to the high heat flux and the uncertainty in in-situ thermal conductance across multiple contact interfaces.The radial heat flux was 0.6 MW/m2 to represent the typical heat flux in LWR’s while retaining the risk of tube cracking low. An innovative “Fire Rabbit” irradia- tion vehicle was developed specifi- cally for the present experiment at ORNL. Bulky pieces of molybdenum were utilized as the heat sources.The biggest challenge in designing the This research addresses a critical technical feasibility issue for silicon carbide composite-based fuel cladding for light water reactors.