BISON-FIPD Integration

To facilitate the use of the precious data stored in Fuels Irradiation and Physics Database (FIPD) for BISON metallic fuel model V&V, efforts have been made on both FIPD and BISON sides through the BISON-FIPD integration project supported by Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) Fuel Performance Technical Area. The FIPD-based data as well as the related BISON/MOOSE classes used to handle those data are listed in Table 1.

Table 1: Use of BISON-FIPD Integration for the fuel performance simulation of Pin DP11

FIPD-Based Data Type	Related BISON/MOOSE Class	Category of Data
Fuel Pin Design Data	`FIPDRodletMeshGenerator`	Pin Design & Geometry
Time-Varying Pin-Averaged Power	`PiecewiseLinear`	Irradiation Conditions
Time-Varying Pin-Averaged Fast Neutron Flux	`PiecewiseLinear`	Irradiation Conditions
Power Peaking Factor	`FIPDAxialProfileFunction`	Irradiation Conditions
Fast Neutron Flux Peaking Factor	`FIPDAxialProfileFunction`	Irradiation Conditions
Time-Varying Cladding Outer Surface Temperature	`FIPDAxialProfileFunction`	Irradiation Conditions
Axial-Dependent Cladding Strain	`FIPDAxialPIEComparison`	Post-Irradiation Examination Data

Unlike other metallic fuel pins irradiated during the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) program, all the related data needed for BISON fuel performance are already available in open literature for Pin DP11. Hence, access to FIPD is not required for this VTB model. Instead, all the openly available data needed to run the BISON fuel performance simulation for Pin DP11 are provided in the same format as provided in FIPD so that this VTB model also works as a demonstration case for BISON-FIPD Integration powered BISON metallic fuel model V&V.

Figure 1: Time and axial dependent power profile for pin DP11.

Pin Design Data

The fuel pin design data of DP11 are provided as a CSV file with the same format as the pin design data file available in FIPD. Note that the pin design data items that are not used by BISON or not openly available have been removed. This CSV file that contains the essential pin design data for Pin DP11 is read by BISON's FIPDRodletMeshGenerator to generate the axisymmetric 2D mesh as well as the corresponding MeshMetaData.

Operating Conditions and Irradiation History

Figure 2: Time and axial dependent fast neutron flux profile for pin DP11.

Calculated pin-by-pin operating conditions data are used in this VTB model. For each pin, time-varying pin-averaged power and fast neutron flux information are used along with corresponding axial peaking factors to provide complete time and axial dependent irradiation condition profiles (see Figure 1 and Figure 2). Here, the power profile is used as the heat source and then to deduce fuel depletion (burnup) for other models, while the fast neutron flux profile is used to account for irradiation effects especially the irradiation creep of the cladding.

Both power and fast neutron flux data are provided in the form of two separate CSV files, respectively: a time-dependent average power/flux CSV file in the standard format that can be directly loaded by MOOSE's intrinsic PiecewiseLinear Function class, and a peaking profile CSV file that can be loaded by BISON's dedicated FIPDAxialProfileFunction. These data are consistent with the data of Pin DP11 reported previously (Miao et al., 2021).

Figure 3: Time and axial dependent outer surface temperature profile for pin DP11.

Due to the existence of the dummy pins and pin reconstitution in the experiment X447, BISON's intrinsic coolant channel models (i.e., the generic CoolantChannelAction and the specific SodiumCoolantChannel) might not make the best prediction, especially when the neighboring fuel pins have dissimilar power profiles. In that case, time-varying cladding outer surface temperature available in the FIPD database, which is calculated by thermal hydraulics code SuperEnergy2 (Basehore and Todreas, 1980), is used directly as the temperature boundary conditions (see Figure 3).

The time-varying cladding outer surface temperature is provided as a single CSV file for Pin DP11, which can also be read by FIPDAxialProfileFunction.

Post-Irradiation Examination (PIE)

The main focus of this VTB model is the consequences of cladding degradation due to the fuel-cladding chemical interaction (FCCI)/coolant-cladding chemical interaction (CCCI) development, which is the deformation and failure of the HT9 cladding. The damage/failure of the cladding is usually quantified by cumulative damage fraction (CDF), which is a statistical and virtual quantity that cannot be directly measured. Therefore, the major experimentally measured data that are valuable here are the deformation profiles of the HT9 cladding. The cladding deformation of Pin DP11 was measured by contact profilometry. The digitized data have been reported (Pahl et al., 1993) and are available in FIPD. The data is used in this VTB model for assessing the cladding deformation predicted by BISON.

The cladding strain profile based on profilometry measurement is provided in a single CSV file for Pin DP11. The data can be loaded by FIPDAxialPIEComparison to be directly compared with the BISON predictions.

In addition to the cladding deformation information, additional relevant information is revealed by other PIE approaches. Fission gas analysis of an irradiated pin shows the percentage of fission gas generated within the fuel is released into the plenum. The Neutron Radiograph (NRAD) can be used to measure the axial growth of the fuel slug. More importantly, the irradiated pin is sectioned at several axial positions of interest. The cross sections are then polished and etched for metallography, which can be used to measure the wastage thickness of both FCCI and CCCI. All of the aforementioned PIE data, which are also available in FIPD, are also used as reference in this VTB model.

Go to Next Section: Fuel Performance Models

References

K. L. Basehore and N. E. Todreas. SUPERENERGY-2: A multiassembly, steady-state computer code for LMFBR core thermal-hydraulic analysis. Technical Report, Battelle Pacific Northwest Labs., Richland, WA (USA), 1980. doi:10.2172/5107861.

@techreport{BASEHORE1980SE2,
    author = "Basehore, K. L. and Todreas, N. E.",
    title = "{SUPERENERGY-2: A} multiassembly, steady-state computer code for {LMFBR} core thermal-hydraulic analysis",
    year = "1980",
    doi = "10.2172/5107861",
    institution = "Battelle Pacific Northwest Labs., Richland, WA (USA)"
}

Yinbin Miao, Aaron Oaks, Kun Mo, Michael Billone, Christopher Matthews, Adam X Zabriskie, Stephen Novascone, and Abdellatif M Yacout. Metallic fuel cladding degradation model development and evaluation for BISON. Nuclear Engineering and Design, 385:111531, 2021.

@article{Miao2021X447,
    author = "Miao, Yinbin and Oaks, Aaron and Mo, Kun and Billone, Michael and Matthews, Christopher and Zabriskie, Adam X and Novascone, Stephen and Yacout, Abdellatif M",
    title = "Metallic fuel cladding degradation model development and evaluation for {BISON}",
    journal = "Nuclear Engineering and Design",
    volume = "385",
    pages = "111531",
    year = "2021",
    publisher = "Elsevier"
}

RG Pahl, CE Lahm, and SL Hayes. Performance of HT9 clad metallic fuel at high temperature. Journal of nuclear materials, 204:141–147, 1993.

@article{Pahl1993X447,
    author = "Pahl, RG and Lahm, CE and Hayes, SL",
    title = "Performance of {HT}9 clad metallic fuel at high temperature",
    journal = "Journal of nuclear materials",
    volume = "204",
    pages = "141--147",
    year = "1993",
    publisher = "Elsevier"
}

Pin Design Data
Operating Conditions and Irradiation History
Post-Irradiation Examination (PIE)
References