A prediction code for the thermo-mechanical performance of research reactor fuel (PRIME) has been developed with the implementation of developed models to analyze the irradiation behavior of U-Mo dispersion fuel. The code is capable of predicting the two-dimensional thermal and mechanical performance of U-Mo dispersion fuel during irradiation. A finite element method was employed to solve the governing equations for thermal and mechanical equilibria. Temperature- and burnup-dependent material properties of the fuel meat constituents and cladding were used. The numerical solution schemes in PRIME were verified by benchmarking solutions obtained using a commercial finite element analysis program (ABAQUS).

The code was validated using irradiation data from RERTR, HAMP-1, and E-FUTURE tests. The measured irradiation data used in the validation were IL thickness, volume fractions of fuel meat constituents for the thermal analysis, and profiles of the plate thickness changes and fuel meat swelling for the mechanical analysis. The prediction results were in good agreement with the measurement data for both thermal and mechanical analyses, confirming the validity of the code.

利用已开发的模型来分析U-Mo分散燃料的辐照行为，已经开发了研究堆燃料（PRIME）的热机械性能的预测代码。该代码能够预测辐照过程中U-Mo分散燃料的二维热和机械性能。采用有限元方法求解热平衡和机械平衡的控制方程。使用了燃料肉成分和覆层的温度和燃耗相关的材料特性。通过使用商业有限元分析程序（ABAQUS）获得的基准解决方案，对PRIME中的数值解决方案进行了验证。

使用来自RERTR，HAMP-1和E-FUTURE测试的辐照数据对代码进行了验证。验证中使用的测得辐射数据为IL厚度，用于热分析的燃料肉成分的体积分数，以及用于机械分析的板厚度变化和燃料肉膨胀的轮廓。预测结果与热分析和机械分析的测量数据高度吻合，证实了该代码的有效性。