| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2025 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Solid-state Processing and Manufacturing for Extreme Environment Applications: Integrating Insights and Innovations
|
| Presentation Title |
The Use of Powder Injection Molding for the Fabrication of Oxygen-Sensitive Advanced Nuclear Fuels |
| Author(s) |
Deana Kwong Hong Tsang, Adrien Terricabras, Joshua White |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Deana Kwong Hong Tsang |
| Abstract Scope |
Advanced fuels currently being investigated as replacement for UO2 face pellet fabrication challenges due to readily oxidizing in oxygen-containing atmospheres, causing unwanted phase changes, sub-optimal sinterability and hazards such as pyrophoricity. Impurities introduced during fabrication also impact the final performance of these high uranium density fuels. We aim to address these issues by investigating the feasibility of a high-throughput fabrication process based on powder injection molding (PIM) to prevent oxidation of susceptible fuels and create near-net shape geometries. PIM relies on achieving suitably low viscosities to fill a mold without compromising the proportion of powder in the resulting green pellet. Hence, the effect of powder morphology and volume% on rheology is investigated and successive steps in the PIM process (thermal debinding and sintering) are optimized. Results will be discussed in the context of commercial fabrication of high uranium density fuels to mitigate the impact of oxidation through the sintering process. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Nuclear Materials, Shaping and Forming, Polymers |