  This paper offers a study of oxygen dissolution into a solid, and its
consequences on the mechanical behaviour of the material. In fact, mechanical
strains strongly influence the oxidation processes and may be, in some
materials, responsible for cracking. To realize this study, mechanical
considerations are introduced into the classical diffusion laws. Simulations
were made for the particular case of uranium dioxide, which undergoes the
chemical fragmentation. According to our simulations, the hypothesis of a
compression stress field into the oxidised UO2 compound near the internal
interface is consistent with some oxidation mechanisms of oxidation
experimentally observed. More generally, this work will be extended to the
simulation to an oxide layer growth on a metallic substrate.
