Soliton microdynamics of heat conduction in plutonium and uranium in the temperature range of martensitic phase transitions

The microdynamics of large-amplitude nonlinear lattice vibrations of plutonium and uranium has been investigated at high reactor temperatures in the ranges of martensitic phase transitions. Solutions of nonlinear dynamic equations have been obtained using the Lennard-Jones interatomic potential for the soliton generation and the energy transfer by solitons between the crystal boundaries in the shells. The synchronism of the soliton trajectories and peaks of energy fluxes demonstrates an analog of the shot effect. The temperature dependences of thermal conductivity coefficients are consistent with the experiment and exhibit local maxima in the ranges of phase transitions. A spectral analysis has revealed that the dominant heat transfer is provided by rarefaction solitons. The martensitic phase transitions are accompanied by a reorganization of the spectral density in the phase plane with a sharp increase in the high-frequency range. The spectral density has maxima of the quasi-biphonon type. The obtained data in dimensionless form, apart from plutonium and uranium, can be used for other monatomic crystals. The specific features of the thermal conductivity and microdynamics of the formation of vacancies and pores in crystals without shells have been discussed.