Safety Evaluation of Silicon Carbide and Zircaloy-4 Cladding during a Large-Break Loss-of-Coolant Accident

Abstract

In this study, we aim to conduct structural analyses of cladding materials, such as silicon carbide and zircaloy-4, during a Large-Break Loss-of-Coolant Accident. The safety margin is the key consideration regarding the performance of the cladding materials. Our study shows that, in terms of primary stresses, SiC has a greater safety margin than zircaloy-4 due to SiC having a higher yield and ultimate strength; the cladding outer pressure is not affected by the cladding materials and, thus, the primary stresses of all cladding materials are the same. However, for secondary stresses, zircaloy-4 has the smallest fluctuation and irradiated SiC recorded the largest; secondary stresses and temperature histories are material-dependent. Ultimately, both cladding materials were found to have sufficient safety margins with respect to primary and secondary stresses.