摘要
核能系统兼具高温、高压、高辐射、高腐蚀等特性,严苛的服役环境对核用材料提出了极高的要求,相关材料的研发是其走向应用的重大挑战.相较于传统核用材料,碳化物陶瓷材料具有更好的高温辐照性能和更优异的综合热物理性能,其制备和应用成为新的研究热点.本文综述了碳化物陶瓷材料在新一代核能系统中的应用现状,重点阐述了核用碳化物陶瓷材料的应用领域、基本性能、制备方法和辐照性能,并展望了碳化物陶瓷材料在新一代核能系统中的应用前景和发展方向.
After the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan, the safety requirements of nuclear energy systems are constantly increasing.A series of new nuclear energy systems are under development, such as very high-temperature gas-cooled reactor(VHTR),lead-cooled fast reactor(LFR), gas-cooled fast reactor(GFR) and so on. In order to achieve the goals of higher safety, these nuclear systems have put forward higher requirements for nuclear materials. For example, materials working in VHTR and GFR are supposed to withstand higher temperatures, and LFR requires materials to be more corrosion-resistant. Nuclear materials have to meet these requirements under normal operating conditions, as well as in incidental and accidental conditions. Therefore, it is necessary to optimize the existing material system and develop new high-performance materials to meet the future development needs of advanced nuclear power systems.Compared with traditional nuclear materials, carbide ceramics have better mechanical properties under elevated temperatures, stronger irradiation resistance and better comprehensive thermophysical properties. Up to now, great breakthroughs have been made in the research of carbide ceramic materials and some key materials are going to be used in the new-generation nuclear systems. For example, uranium carbide(UC) is gradually replacing traditional uranium dioxide(UO2), and silicon carbide(Si C) is acting as the main fission product barrier layer of coated fuel particles in HTGR. Other new carbide materials such as zirconium carbide(Zr C) and MAX phase carbide materials are also becoming a new research hotspot in the field of nuclear materials.Compared with other ceramic materials, the fabrication especially its densification of carbide is generally more difficult.In addition, high purity and good neutron properties are also the basic requirements of carbide ceramic materials for nuclear energy. The vapor deposition process and powder metallurgy process have been used to fabricate carbide ceramics for different components in nuclear reactors. Some new preparation methods have been developed to fabricate fuels and structural materials. For example, gelation progress is applied to prepare UCO microsphere fuel, and nano infiltration and transient eutectic(NITE) process is used in the preparation of Si Cf/Si C composites, which is potential for nuclear claddings.The irradiation-induced degradation of nuclear ceramic materials in the reactor is unavoidable. In order to evaluate the performance changes of materials under irradiation conditions, different irradiation methods such as electron irradiation,ion irradiation, proton irradiation and neutron irradiation are used. Due to its unique microstructure and properties, carbide ceramics exhibit different properties from other nuclear materials under irradiation. The performance changes of main nuclear carbide materials after irradiation are summarized, including microstructure evolution, macroscopic irradiationinduced swelling, changes in mechanical and thermal properties, etc.In general, based on the current research progress, the article reviews the application of carbide ceramics in new nuclear power systems and elaborates their service scenarios. Basic properties, preparation methods and irradiation properties of carbide ceramic materials are introduced in detail. The future development directions and the processing techniques are proposed. In the future, carbide ceramic materials should be further developed, and carbide ceramic materials will find diverse applications in the new generation nuclear systems.
作者
程心雨
刘荣正
刘马林
邵友林
刘兵
Xinyu Cheng;Rongzheng Liu;Malin Liu;Youlin Shao;Bing Liu(Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology,Tsinghua University,Beijing 100084,China)
出处
《科学通报》
EI
CAS
CSCD
北大核心
2021年第24期3154-3170,共17页
Chinese Science Bulletin
关键词
碳化物陶瓷
新一代核能系统
制备方法
辐照性能
carbide ceramics
new-generation nuclear system
preparation methods
irradiation-induced performances
作者简介
联系人:刘荣正,E-mail:liurongzheng@tsinghua.edu.cn;联系人:刘兵,E-mail:bingliu@tsinghua.edu.cn。
