Investigation of the Factors Affecting Stress Corrosion Cracking Rates in Zircaloy-4 Foil

Abstract

Considering the desire of the nuclear industry to move towards higher burn-ups and thus increased efficiency, there is a need to develop a more robust cladding material. Although a rare occurrence, one of the most common sources of failure in fuel cladding is stress-corrosion cracking (SCC), a phenomenon derived from pellet cladding interactions. The aim of this Master's thesis is to investigate the various factors that affect the rate of SCC through experiments simulating reactor conditions. Simultaneously, a predictive crack propagation computational model will be developed to determine if it can serve as a useful tool for future SCC studies.