Abstracts and Available Papers Presented at the
2005 International RERTR Meeting

EFFECT OF ADDITIVES ON THE Al DIFFUSION BEHAVIOR IN UMo BASED FUELS

Jorge E. Garcés
Centro Atómico Bariloche, CNEA, 8400 Bariloche, Argentina

Guillermo Bozzolo
Ohio Aerospace Institute, 22800 Cedar Point Rd., Cleveland, OH 44142, USA

Gerard Hofman and Jeffrey Rest
Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S. Cass Ave., Argonne, IL 60439, USA

ABSTRACT

In this work we apply an atomistic modeling tool for dealing with interfacial phenomena and the effects of selected additives in the behavior of the Al/UMo interface. The basic features characterizing the real system are identified in this modeling effort such as: the increased Al and U interdiffusion with temperature, the Al stopping power of increasing Mo concentration, and the formation of interfacial compounds. Moreover, significant results were also obtained in the case of Si additions to Al, once again reproducing the main features observed experimentally: the trend indicating formation of interfacial compounds, much reduced diffusion of Al into UMo due to the high Si concentration, Si depletion in the Al matrix, and an unexpected interaction between Mo and Si which avoid the Si diffusion to deeper layers in the UMo solid solution thus improving the stopping power for Al diffusion. The effects of other additives, such as Ge, are also discussed in the present work.

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