Effect of grain morphology on gas bubble swelling in UMo fuels - A 3D microstructure dependent Booth model

A three dimensional microstructure dependent swelling model is developed for studying the fission gas swelling kinetics in irradiated nuclear fuels. The model is extended from the Booth model [1] in order to investigate the effect of heterogeneous microstructures on gas bubble swelling kinetics. As an application of the model, the effect of grain morphology, fission gas diffusivity, and spatially dependent fission rate on swelling kinetics are simulated in UMo fuels. It is found that the decrease of grain size, the increase of grain aspect ratio for the grain having the same volume, and the increase of fission gas diffusivity (fission rate) cause the increase of swelling kinetics. Other heterogeneities such as second phases and spatially dependent thermodynamic properties including diffusivity of fission gas, sink and source strength of defects could be naturally integrated into the model to enhance the model capability. Published by Elsevier B.V.