Résumé
The fabrication of nuclear fuel is currently carried out using a powder metallurgy process of UO2/PuO2(MOX) that involves several stages including: mixing and grinding. This Work focuses on validating a discreteelement method (DEM) numerical approach for simulating the manufacturing physical processes in nuclearfuel fabrication. The study investigates the fragmentation behavior of model aggregates under differentloading conditions, including quasi-static, impact, and dynamic loads. The model fragmentable systemsinvestigated in this study comprise cohesive particle agglomerates with varying shapes, including sphericalor polyhedral shapes. Experimental validation is conducted through carefully designed experiments onmodel systems with controlled geometries, comparing the results with DEM simulations. The studyconsiders different scales, materials, and mechanical tests to assess the generality and limitations of thenumerical approach. Characterization techniques such as tomography, image analysis, and analytical testsare employed. The findings contribute to enhancing the understanding of aggregate fragmentation insight of optimizing manufacturing processes in the nuclear fuel industry.