Restructuring of microparticles in nuclear ceramic materials. Part I. Fundamentals and size distribution

Ceramic materials such as UO sub(2), ThO sub(2) and Al sub(2)O sub(3) are used in nuclear reactors mainly because of its physical and chemical stability. High temperatures are often the operational environment in nuclear reactors. Grain growth and densification are observed in these materials and so many of their properties are changed. The present series of five papers shows a model and experimental results aimed at the understanding of the grain growth in these materials. As the model is independent of the material, it can be applied to the restructuring of microparticles in general. This paper presents the fundamental principles of the model and the qualitative derivation of the steady-state size distribution of the microparticles. (author)