Fracture properties of an irradiated PWR UO2 fuel evaluated by micro-cantilever bending tests

Abstract For the first time, fracture properties of a UO2 fuel preliminary irradiated in a Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) were characterized by bending tests. Measurements were made at room temperature and at a local scale on micro-cantilevers. Notched and un-notched specimens were prepared with a Focalized Ion Beam (FIB) microscope. Some cantilevers were milled into single grains of the polycrystalline UO2 fuel sample with specific crystallographic orientations chosen with Electron BackScatter Diffraction (EBSD) measurements, others were milled in order to test grain boundaries. Then, every specimen was tested up to failure with a nano-indenter in situ of the SEM/FIB chamber. The resulting brittle fracture parameters (fracture toughness and fracture stress) are compared and discussed. Grain boundaries exhibit a significantly lower fracture resistance than grains, and {111} crystallographic planes appears weaker than {100} and {110} planes in single grains.