A micromechanical model for the secondary creep of elasto-viscoplastic porous materials with two rate-sensitivity exponents: Application to a mixed oxide fuel

This study deals with the secondary creep of a porous nuclear fuel. This material is composed of an isotropic matrix, weakened by randomly distributed clusters of pores. The viscous strain in the matrix is described by two power-law viscosities corresponding to two different creep mechanisms. The material microstructure is analyzed and appropriate descriptors of its morphology are identified. Representative Volume Elements (RVE's) are generated according to these descriptors. The local fields and overall response of these realizations RVE's are simulated within the framework of periodic homogenization using a full-field computational method based on Fast Fourier Transforms. An analytical model based on appropriate approximations of the effective potential governing the overall response of porous materials under creep is proposed. The accuracy of the model is assessed by comparing its predictions with full-field simulations and the agreement is found to be quite satisfactory. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.