Assembly and Irradiation Modeling of Residual Stresses in Low-Enriched Uranium Foil-Based Annular Targets for Molybdenum-99 Production. (2nd October 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Govindarajan, Srisharan G.; Graybill, Brian S.; Makarewicz, Philip F.; Xie, Zhentao; Solbrekken, Gary L.
• Other Names: Vandegrift George Academic Editor.
• Is Part Of: Science and technology of nuclear installations. Volume 2013(2013)
• Publication Date: 2013-10-02
• Subjects: Nuclear engineering -- Periodicals; Nuclear facilities -- Periodicals; Nuclear engineering; Nuclear facilities; Electronic journals; Periodicals; 621.48
• DOI: 10.1155/2013/673535
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1687-6075

Abstract

Abstract : This paper considers a composite cylindrical structure, with low-enriched uranium (LEU) foil enclosed between two aluminum 6061-T6 cylinders. A recess is cut all around the outer circumference of the inner tube to accommodate the LEU foil of open-cross section. To obtain perfect contact at the interfaces of the foil and the tubes, an internal pressure is applied to the inner tube, thereby plastically and elastically deforming it. The residual stresses resulting from the assembly process are used along with a thermal stress model to predict the stress margins in the cladding during irradiation. The whole process was simulated as a steady-state two-dimensional problem using the commercial finite element code Abaqus FEA. The irradiation behavior of the annular target has been presented, and the effect of the assembly residual stresses has been discussed.