Burst criterion for zircaloy-4 fuel cladding in an inert environment

In this paper, an attempt has been made to develop a generalized burst criterion for zircaloy-4 cladding with an outside inert gas environment. The criterion is based on the burst data obtained from present as well past experimental investigations. A generalized correlation for the burst stress using the present and previous experimental data has been developed, which is ultimately used in the development of burst criterion. The effect of pressure-rise during the clad tube heating prior to bursting has been studied and incorporated in the proposed burst criterion model. The effect of anisotropic parameters has also been presented. The choice of material parameters in the mixed-phase region has also been investigated. It has been found that the material parameters have a significant effect on the burst parameters. The predictions from the developed criterion model have been found to be in a fairly good agreement with the experimental results. The inclusion of pressure rise in the burst criterion model has resulted in better agreement with the experimental data as compared to the constant pressure case.