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Center for Nonlinear Studies |
Predicting strains, stresses and swelling in nuclear power plant components exposed to irradiation, directly from the observed or computed defect and dislocation microstructure, is a fundamental problem of nuclear power plant design that has so far eluded a practical solution. We develop a model, free from parameters not accessible to direct evaluation or observation, that is able to provide estimates for irradiation-induced stresses and strains on a macroscopic scale, using information about the distribution of radiation defects produced by neutrons in the microstructure of materials. The model exploits the fact that elasticity equations involve no characteristic spatial scale, and hence admit a mathematical treatment that is an extension to that developed for the evaluation of elastic fields of defects on the nanoscale. We perform a case study where strains and stresses are evaluated analytically and exactly, and also develop a general finite element method implementation of the method, applicable to a broad range of predictive simulations of strains and stresses induced by irradiation in materials and components of any geometry in a nuclear power plant.
Host: Enrique Martinez Saez