Fig. 1. Sketch for the single fuel rod and the self-support structure (a) Single fuel rod, (b) Self-support structure

Fig. 2. Cross section of the HCF assembly for PWR designed by Lightbridge

Fig. 3. Computational domain of the rod bundle (a) 3D view of the rod bundle, (b) Cross section at the 90°, 180°, 270° plane, (c) Dimension of a single rod

Fig. 4. Mesh partitioning of a single fuel(a) Mesh of the single rod, (b) Mesh of the axial section

Fig. 5. Distribution of von Mises stress on the center rod

Fig. 6. Temperature, von Misesstress and strain at the 180° plane (a) Temperature distribution, (b) von Mises stress distribution, (c) Plastic strain distribution, (d) Elastic strain distribution, (e) Thermal strain distribution

Fig. 7. Distributions of stress components on the outer surface of cladding at the 180° plane (the bold scale line represents the zero stress scale)

Fig. 8. Distributions of von Mises stress and plastic strain on the cladding outer surface with different helical angles (a) von Misesstress (the bold scale line means the zero stress scale), (b) Plastic strain

Fig. 9. Temperature distribution on the cladding inner and outer surfaces at 180° plane under different operating conditions

Fig. 10. Distributions of von Mises stress and plastic strain on the cladding inner and outer surfaces at 180° plane under different operating conditions (a) von Mises stress (the bold scale line means the zero stress scale), (b) Plastic strain

Fig. 11. Stress intensification curves for cladding material under different temperature

Fig. 12. Variations of fuel power and temperature at different monitoring points (a) Locations of the monitoring points, (b) Power and temperature variations

Fig. 13. Stress at the cladding inner and outer surfaces of blade tip under reactivity insertion accident (a) Cladding inner surface, (b) Cladding outer surface

Fig. 14. Plastic strain at the cladding inner and outer surfaces of blade tip under reactivity insertion accident (a) Cladding inner surface, (b) Cladding outer surface

Fig. 15. Stress at the cladding inner and outer surfaces of blade elbow under reactivity insertion accident (a) Cladding inner surface, (b) Cladding outer surface

Fig. 16. Temperature at the cladding inner and outer surfaces of blade elbow under reactivity insertion accident (a) Cladding inner surface, (b) Cladding outer surface

Fig. 17. Variations of core pressure and power under the LOCA condition

Fig. 18. Stress at the cladding inner and outer surfaces of blade tip under the LOCA condition (a) Cladding inner surface, (b) Cladding outer surface

Fig. 19. Plastic strain at the cladding inner and outer surfaces of blade tip under the LOCA condition (a) Cladding inner surface, (b) Cladding outer surface

Fig. 20. Stress at the cladding inner and outer surfaces of blade elbow under the LOCA condition (a) Cladding inner surface, (b) Cladding outer surface

Fig. 21. Plastic strain at the cladding inner and outer surfaces of blade elbow under the LOCA condition (a) Cladding inner surface, (b) Cladding outer surface