Abstract:
For the strain-rate-dependent constitutive relation of zircaloy cladding in UMo monolithic nuclear fuel plates, the three-dimensional stress updating algorithm was derived out, and the corresponding VUMAT subroutine to define its constitutive relation was developed and validated; the finite element model was built to simulate the frame rolling process of UMo monolithic nuclear fuel plates; with the explicit dynamic finite element method, the evolution rules of the deformation and contact pressure during the rolling process within the composite slab were obtained and analyzed. The research results indicate that it is convenient and efficient to define the strain-rate dependent constitutive relations of materials with the user-defined material subroutine VUMAT; the rolling-induced contact pressure between the fuel meat and the covers varies with time, and the maximum pressure exits at the symmetric plane along the plate width direction. This study supplies a foundation and a computation method for optimizing the processing parameters to manufacture UMo monolithic nuclear fuel plates.