Abstract:
Thermal/mechanical properties of the fuels are dominantly affected by the fission pores produced from fuel particles during irradiation. In this paper, the effect of U
3Si
2 fuel particle on U
3Si
2-Al dispersed fuel were studied using the optical microscope(OM), scanning electron microscopy(SEM) and energy dispersive spectrometer(EDS). The microstructure of U
3Si
2 was observed. Additionally, the morphology, size and distribution of pores of U
3Si
2 were analyzed statistically. The results show that when the fission density increases from 2.34×10
27f/m~3 to 3.74×10
27f/m~3, the gas morphology in the U
3Si
2 fuel particles is globular and without great change. However, the average pore size and porosity caused by the fission pores increase with the fission density, which go through two stages: when the fission density of the fuel particles increases from 2.34×10
27f/m~3 to 3.19×10
27f/m~3, the average pore size and porosity are with steady-state growth; when the fission density of the fuel particles increases from 3.19×10
27 3.74×10
27f/m~3, the average pore size and porosity increase rapidly.