Fabrication of particle dispersed inert matrix fuel based on liquid phase sintered SiC

► Inert matrix was produced from submicron α-SiC and sintering additives Al 2O 3 and Y 2O 3. ► ZrO 2 beads as “fuel” particles. ► Fabrication using conventional high temperature sintering and spark plasma sintering. ► Spark plasma sintering results in better pellets densification in comparison with...

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Veröffentlicht in:Journal of nuclear materials 2011-08, Vol.415 (2), p.139-146
Hauptverfasser: Pavlyuchkov, D., Baney, R.H., Tulenko, J.S., Seifert, H.J.
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Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:► Inert matrix was produced from submicron α-SiC and sintering additives Al 2O 3 and Y 2O 3. ► ZrO 2 beads as “fuel” particles. ► Fabrication using conventional high temperature sintering and spark plasma sintering. ► Spark plasma sintering results in better pellets densification in comparison with high temperature sintering. ► Interaction between ZrO 2 particles and matrix is more pronounced during high temperature sintering. In the present work, liquid phase sintered SiC (LPS-SiC) was proposed as an inert matrix for the particle dispersed inert matrix fuel (IMF). The fuel particles containing plutonium and minor actinides were substituted with pure yttria stabilized zirconia beads. The LPS-SiC matrix was produced from the initial mixtures prepared using submicron sized α-SiC powder and oxide additives Al 2O 3, Y 2O 3 in the amount of 10 wt.% with the molar ratio 1Y 2O 3/1Al 2O 3. Powder mixtures were sintered using two sintering methods; namely conventional high temperature sintering and novel spark plasma sintering at different temperatures depending on the method applied in order to obtain dense samples. The phase reaction products were identified using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and microstructures were investigated using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX) techniques. The influence of powder mixing methods, sintering temperatures, pressures applied and holding time on the density of the obtained pellets was investigated. The samples sintered by slow conventional sintering show lower relative density and more pronounced interaction between the fuel particles and matrix in comparison with those obtained with the fast spark plasma sintering method.
ISSN:0022-3115
1873-4820
DOI:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2011.04.063