Enhancing cladding mechanical modelling during DBA/LOCA accidents with FRAPTRAN: The TUmech one-dimensional model

The analysis of the cladding mechanical performance is essential for predicting rod failure during the heat-up phase of a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA). Previous modelling and simulation exercises have shown that there is room for improvement in the accuracy of fuel performance simulations under such conditions. In this work, TUmech, a simplified standalone version of the mechanical model in TRANSURANUS, has been developed and coupled with FRAPTRAN-2.0. After highlighting the most significant differences between both approaches, particularly in their mechanical treatment and material property correlations, simulations have been performed for IFA-650.2 (fresh fuel) and IFA-650.10 (high burnup fuel) of the Halden LOCA test series. The results obtained from both FRAPTRAN versions have been compared with experimental data and benchmarked against TRANSURANUS estimates, focusing on rod inner gas pressure, post-test cladding outer diameter, and burst time. In both scenarios, FRAPTRAN-TUmech has proven to enhance the accuracy in predicting these three variables compared to the FRAPTRAN default version. However, further validation is required before drawing definitive conclusions based on the encouraging results. •TUmech has been developed for predicting the cladding mechanical response under LOCA conditions.•TUmech has been coupled with FRAPTRAN-2.0 as an alternative mechanical model.•The FRAPTRAN-TUmech tool has been validated with two Halden LOCA tests.•The obtained results have been benchmarked against FRAPTRAN-2.0 and TRANSURANUS.•FRAPTRAN-TUmech enhances the accuracy of the predictions compared to FRAPTRAN-2.0 and TRANSURANUS.