Microstructural Examination to Aid in Understanding Friction Bonding Fabrication Technique for Monolithic Nuclear Fuel

Monolithic nuclear fuel is currently being developed for use in research reactors, and friction bonding (FB) is a technique being developed to help in this fuel's fabrication. Since both FB and monolithic fuel are new concepts, research is needed to understand the impact of varying FB fabrication parameters on fuel plate characteristics. This thesis research provides insight into the FB process and its application to the monolithic fuel design by recognizing and understanding the microstructural effects of varying fabrication parameters (a) FB tool load, and (b) FB tool face alloy. These two fabrication parameters help drive material temperature during fabrication, and thus the material properties, bond strength, and possible formation of interface reaction layers. This study analyzed temperatures and tool loads measured during those FB processes and examined microstructural characteristics of materials and bonds in samples taken from the resulting fuel plates. This study shows that higher tool load increases aluminum plasticization and forging during FB, and that the tool face alloy helps determine the tool's heat extraction efficacy. The study concludes that successful aluminum bonds can be attained in fuel plates using a wide range of FB tool loads. The range of tool loads yielding successful uranium-aluminum bonding was not established, but it was demonstrated that such bonding can be attained with FB tool load of 48,900 N (11,000 lbf) when using a FB tool faced with a tungsten alloy. This tool successfully performed FB, and with better results than tools faced with other materials. Results of this study correlate well with results reported for similar aluminum bonding techniques. This study's results also provide support and validation for other nuclear fuel development studies and conclusions. Recommendations are offered for further research.