Effect of Ball-mill Treatment on Power Characteristics, Compaction and Sintering Behaviors of ex-AUC and ex-ADU UO₂Powder

Abstract

The effects of ball-milling time(0 ~4 hrs) have been investigated on the change of powder characteristics, compaction behavior (compaction pressure range : 200 ~400MPa) and sinterability (1700'c in Ha atmosphere) of two different UOtex:\small\textstyle$_2$ powders (ex-ADU and ex-AUC) prepared by the wet process. It is observed that, while the ex-ADU UOtex:\small\textstyle$_2$ was little affected, the ex-AUC UOtex:\small\textstyle$_2$ was largely affected by the ball-milling treatment. This may be attributed to the characteristics of particle size formed during the preparation step, i.e.., the former has a small average size of about 1.0tex:\small\textstyle${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$, while the latter has a relatively large average size of about 301n. It appeared that the effective size reduction by ball-milling treatment is limited to the particle size larger than ltex:\small\textstyle${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$, and to the extent of maximum decrease in size of about 0.5tn. In the case of ex-AUC UOtex:\small\textstyle$_2$, it is observed that the particle size decreased with ball-milling time and green density and sintered density of the pellets prepared from ball-milled powder increased compared with those of pellets prepared from the as-received powder under the same conditions. This may be attributed mainly to the fine particles formed during the ball-milling treatment.