Thermal-mechanical coupling behavior analysis on metal-matrix dispersed plate-type fuel

In this study, according to the structure and material characteristics of the metal-matrix dispersed plate-type fuel assembly, a series of mathematical and physical models were established, including thermal-hydraulic analysis, stress-strain calculation, bending and torsion calculation and other auxiliary models. Based on these models, a thermal-mechanical coupling analysis scheme was designed and a fuel behavior analysis code FROBA-PLATEs was independently developed. The accuracy and reliability of the code FROBA-PLATEs was validated by the single-module validation method. The validated code was used to perform the thermal-mechanical behavior simulation of a hypothetical metal-matrix dispersed plate-type fuel assembly. Significant parameters, such as flow distribution, temperature profile and stress-strain profile, were obtained. In addition, some important thermal-mechanical phenomena, including the asymmetric heat transfer of the edge plate, the bending of side panel of and the torsion of the whole assembly, were simulated and evaluated.