Fabrication and measurement of hoop strength of SiC triplex tube for nuclear fuel cladding applications

The SiC ceramics are under investigation for the fuel cladding in the light water nuclear reactors because of its excellent high temperature strength and corrosion resistance against hot steam under the severe accident conditions. In this study, the SiC triplex tubes consisting of a SiC inner layer, a SiC/PyC/SiC intermediate layer, and a SiC outer layer were fabricated by the chemical vapor processes. The hoop strength and fracture behaviors of the SiC triplex tube were investigated. The SiC triplex tubes fabricated at the high ratio of H2/MTS had a quite high average strength with a relatively small standard deviation. The hoop strength of the composite tubes tends to increase with the volume fraction of the reinforced fibers. The highest fiber volume fraction was obtained using Tyranno SA3-0.8k with the dense winding patterns such as bamboo-like mosaic pattern, which resulted in the high hoop strength compared to other fibers of Tyranno SA3-1.6k and Hi-Nicalon Type S. Hoop strength also increased slightly as the winding angle increased from 45° to 65°. Fracture behaviors of the SiC triplex tube were investigated via the observation of microstructure of the failed samples.