Development and validation of thermo-mechanical analysis code of metallic fuel under steady-state conditions in LMFR

Thermal characteristics and mechanical analysis are particularly essential in the performance and safety analysis of metallic fuel for Liquid Metal Fast Reactor (LMFR). Therefore, the development of advanced thermo-mechanical analysis code is significant for the safety design of metallic fuels. In order to meet the future demand for metallic fuel application in China, the FRAC code was developed to analyze the metallic fuel performance during steady-state conditions. The code was benchmarked against the open-literature EBR-II experimental database. In comparison with the experimental data given, the code calculated Zr mole fraction, fuel temperature distribution, fission gas release and clad strain distribution are in good agreement with the data, which indicates that the code is reliable and can be applied into safety analysis of metal fuel design in China. The overall code assessment shows that the prediction error is within acceptable range.