| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
MS&T24: Materials Science & Technology
|
| Symposium
|
Integrated Computational Materials Engineering for Physics-Based Machine Learning Models
|
| Presentation Title |
A Multiscale Simulation Investigation of Cavity Evolution in a Ni TPBAR Coating |
| Author(s) |
William E. Frazier, Giridhar Nandipati, Danny Edwards, Andrew Casella, David Senor |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
William E. Frazier |
| Abstract Scope |
Under irradiation, the LiAlO2 pellets within the Tritium-Producing Burnable Absorber Rod (TPBAR) assembly release tritium, which is absorbed by the nickel-plated Zircaloy-4 “getter” tubing. The Ni coating prevents the oxidation of the getter tube, which would degrade its absorption properties. Therefore, the resilience of the Ni coating under irradiation is of particular interest for promoting the effective operation of the TPBAR. To this end, the cavity formation and growth within the Ni coating was modeled by coupling atomic-scale Kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC), rate theory, and Potts Model simulations. KMC simulations predicted the formation and growth rates of vacancy clusters as a function of vacancy, tritium, and transmuted helium atom concentrations. Rate theory calculations predicted these rates as a function of position within the Ni coating. Finally, Potts Model simulations predicted the cavity size distributions. Predicting the impact of changes in Ni coating microstructure and service conditions are discussed. |