THE ELASTOPLASTIC THERMAL BOWING OF NUCLEAR FUEL PINS. APPROXIMATE EQUATIONS FOR THE RAPID CALCULATION OF BOWING CHARACTERISTICS OF PINS RESTRAINED BY TWO ANTI-BOWING GRIDS

Certain approximaations are introduced into a recently developed general theory of the thermal bowing of nuclear fuel pins restrained by two equally spaced anti-bowing grids. It is shown that simple expressions may be obtained for the maximum bow of a fuel pin under elastoplastic and plastic conditions which may be sufficiently accurate for many purposes. Simple expressions are also derived for the loads on the anti-bowing grids and end support plates. (auth)