RESEARCH ON APPLICATION OF ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY IN NUCLEAR FUEL ASSEMBLY FIELD

As one of the key technologies of the fourth industrial revolution, Additive Manufacturing (AM, also called 3D printing), which is the basis of innovation design with its high degree of manufacturing freedom, has been widely used in the construction field, aerospace field, automobile manufacturing field, biomedical field, etc. With the increasing maturity of additive manufacturing technology, it has been gradually used in the field of nuclear energy in order to realize design reform. Public reports have shows that additive manufacturing for the pressure vessel fuel, some kinds of fuel pellets, parts of fuel assembly and related core components has been realized. In this paper, the advantages and challenges of additive manufacturing technology used in nuclear fuel assembly design and manufacturing are analyzed, the application status of additive manufacturing technology in the field of nuclear fuel assembly design and manufacturing is summarized, and the application development trend of the additive manufacturing technology for the fuel assembly is also clarified. In general, although the application of the additive manufacturing technology in the field of nuclear fuel assembly design and engineering is still at the stage of research, the application scope of this innovative technology will be greatly expanded with the continuous progress and improvement of the additive manufacturing technology in the near future.