Actinide oxide microspheres are considered as promising substituents to powder precursors for the production of ceramic pellets of nuclear fuel or targets. Porous microspheres of sub-millimetric size are synthesised using the Weak Acid Resin process. Controlling their microstructure and their mechanical properties is essential to predict the microstructure of green compacts and sintered pellets. Here, cerium and gadolinium are used to mimic actinides as metal cation. Single microspheres are crushed experimentally using a micropress in a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) to investigate their mechanical properties and visualise their fracture behaviour. The results are compared to numerical simulations based on the Discrete Element Method (DEM). In DEM, a microsphere is modelled as an assembly of bonded spheres representing aggregates. Bonds may fracture in tension or shear. A limited number of material parameters (aggregate elastic modulus, bond strength) are sufficient for the accurate simulation of the fracture behaviour of a microsphere.

系氧化物微球被认为是用于生产核燃料或靶材陶瓷颗粒的粉末前体的有前途的取代基。使用弱酸树脂工艺合成了亚毫米大小的多孔微球。控制其微观结构和机械性能对于预测生坯和烧结球团的微观结构至关重要。在此，铈和g用于模仿act系元素作为金属阳离子。使用微型压力机在扫描电子显微镜（SEM）中对单个微球进行实验性粉碎，以研究其机械性能并观察其断裂行为。将结果与基于离散元素方法（DEM）的数值模拟进行比较。在DEM中，微球被建模为代表聚集体的结合球的集合。键可能会因拉伸或剪切而断裂。有限数量的材料参数（总弹性模量，粘结强度）足以精确模拟微球的断裂行为。