The Impact of the Fuel Pellet's Geometry on the Thermomechanical State of the Fuel Element Section

The article presents the formulation of a quasi-static thermo mechanics problem for a thermoelastic body, considering the smeared crack model. The numerical algorithm for solving these types of problems is developed using the mortar method to consider the contact interaction between bodies. The object of application of the constructed algorithm in the work is a part of the fuel element, consisting of fuel pellets and their surrounding cladding. The analysis of the impact of the fuel pellet's geometry (the presence of a central hole, chamfers, and holes at the ends) on the stress-strain state of the considered section of the fuel element, including four pellets, for the output mode at rated power.