On the Correctness of the Well-Known Mathematical Model of Irradiation-Induced Swelling with the Influence of Stresses in the Problems of Elastic-Plastic Deformation Mechanics.

The paper provides results of the study of correctness of the mathematical model that includes the influence of stresses on irradiation-induced swelling of metal in the problems of elastic-plastic deformation mechanics. The present-day approaches to modeling irradiation-induced swelling, which take into account a damaging dose, irradiation temperature, and the effect of the stress state on the swelling deformation, are discussed. The constitutive equations that describe the elasticplastic deformation processes allowing for the influence of a stress mode on the irradiation-induced swelling in metal are put forward. Analysis of these equations has made it possible to find the conditions that ensure correctness of the plasticity equations considered and to make a lower-bound estimate of the maximum permissible value of free swelling and irradiation dose. A priori estimates of the maximum permissible value of free swelling and damaging dose are given for 08Kh18N10T steel under various irradiation temperatures. In the practice of strength design such estimates are needed at the stage of problem formulation in order to analyze adequacy of input data, for they enable one to assess a prior the possibility of solving the problem for a given temperature and irradiation dose. The boundary-value problem that describes non-isothermal processes of elasticplastic deformation including swelling strains has been defined in the form of a nonlinear operator equation. Based on the findings regarding the correctness of the constitutive equations, we have established the existence and uniqueness of the generalized solution and its continuous dependence on applied loads, thermal strains and swelling strains. The convergence of the method of elasticity solutions and the method of variable elasticity parameters has been studied as applied to a thermoplasticity problem including irradiation-induced swelling strains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]