Characterization of damage mechanisms in CVI-SiC/SiC composite tubes by X-ray tomography

TL;DR

This study combines X-ray tomography and numerical simulations to analyze damage mechanisms in SiC/SiC composite tubes used for nuclear fuel cladding, providing detailed insights into microstructural deformation and damage.

Contribution

It introduces a combined experimental and numerical approach using real microstructures for damage analysis in SiC/SiC composites.

Findings

3D microstructure analysis via tomography

Quantitative damage characterization

Integration of real microstructures in simulations

Abstract

SiC/SiC composite tubes are studied as materials for nuclear fuel cladding. A thorough understanding on the mechanisms of damage to this material requires both an experimental and a numerical study. In situ tensile tests were performed under X-ray tomography at the SOLEIL synchrotron. Post processing methods have been developed to analyze the microstructure, measure the deformation and characterize qualitatively and quantitatively the damage mechanisms inside the material. The tomographic images provide 3D descriptions on the microstructure, which are direct input data for the numerical simulation based on FFT. The use of real microstructures makes it possible to combine the simulation results directly with the experimental observations.