Irradiation tests on 0.612 inch O.D. by 117-inch long Zircaloy-4 clad fuel rods were performed to assess the effects on fuel rod performance of (1) internal helium pre-pressurization to 500 psi as fabricated, (2) the presence of a graphite barrier coating on the inside cladding surface, and (3) combined pre-pressurization and graphite coating. Periodic dimensional examinations were performed on the test rods, and the results were compared with data obtained from two previously irradiated test rods--both unpressurized and uncoated and one intentionally defected. These comparisons indicate that both pre-pressurization and graphite coating can substantially improve fuel element performance capability.

A thermomechanical theory of large deformation elastic-inelastic material behavior is developed which is based on a multiplicative decomposition of the strain. Very general assumptions are made for the elastic and inelastic constitutive relations and effects such as thermally-activated creep, fast-neutron-flux-induced creep and growth, annealing, and strain recovery are compatible with the theory. Reduced forms of the constitutive equations are derived by use of the second law of thermodynamics in the form of the Clausius-Duhem inequality. Observer invariant equations are derived by use of an invariance principle which is a generalization of the principle of material frame indifference.