Mesoscale modeling of intergranular bubble percolation in nuclear fuels

Phase-field simulations are used to examine the variability of intergranular fission gas bubble growth and percolation on uranium dioxide grain boundaries on a mesoscopic length scale. Three key parameters are systematically varied in this study: the contact angle (or dihedral angle) defining the bubble shape, the initial bubble density on the grain boundary plane, and the ratio of the gas diffusivity on the grain boundary versus the grain interiors. The simulation results agree well with previous experimental data obtained for bubble densities and average bubble areas during coalescence events. Interestingly, the rate of percolation is found to be highly variable, with a large dependency on the contact angle and the initial bubble density and little-to-no dependency on the grain boundary gas diffusivity.