Effect of He implantation on the microstructure of zircaloy-4 studied using in situ TEM

Tunes, Matheus A.; Harrison, R. W.; Greaves, Graeme; Hinks, John; Donnelly, S. E.

doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2017.06.012

Cited by 26 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Gas bubbles were observed in bright field (BFTEM) mode with the objective lens underfocused by approximately 1000 nm in order to obtain well-delineated images of the bubbles (Fresnel contrast) [36]. Bubble sizes were measured using the software ImageJ [40] with protocols already reported in literature [41,42].…”

Section: Light and Heavy Ion Irradiation In Situ Within A Temmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating sluggish diffusion in a concentrated solid solution alloy using ion irradiation with in situ TEM

et al. 2019

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Concentrated solid solution alloys (CSAs) -including high entropy alloys (HEAs)are known for their remarkable mechanical and corrosion resistances with superior tolerance against the deleterious effect of irradiation exposure when compared with pure metals and dilute alloys. To date, however, the mechanisms responsible for such improvements are still unclear and remain a subject of investigation. The present work reports in situ Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) study under simultaneous ion irradiation of the face-centred cubic (FCC) FeCrMnNi quaternary HEA, comparing with a non-equiatomic Fe-based alloy, the AISI-348 austenitic stainless steel that has Cr, Ni and Mn as alloying elements. The alloys were irradiated under the same conditions, with 6 keV He + and 134 keV Xe + ions at 298 K up to 1.7×10 17 ions•cm −2 (4 displacements per atom, dpa) and 2.7×10 15 ions•cm −2 (4 dpa), respectively. The nucleation of inert gas bubbles was tracked upon post-irradiation extended annealing up to 673 K. He and Xe bubbles were observed to grow at a rate slightly slower in the equiatomic alloy. Trends from the bubble size analyses show that the nucleation and growth of inert gas bubbles are suppressed or delayed in some conditions in the nearly equiatomic alloy.

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Section: Light and Heavy Ion Irradiation In Situ Within A Temmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating sluggish diffusion in a concentrated solid solution alloy using ion irradiation with in situ TEM

et al. 2019

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“…Zirconium is currently the major constituent of fuel assembly alloys used in the nuclear industry worldwide; however, Email address: m.a.tunes@hud.ac.uk (Matheus A. Tunes) at high temperatures and during LOCA events, these alloys suffer from oxidation by steam which increases the hydrogen gas generation rate [3][4][5][6]. This dangerous accumulation of hydrogen gas could be mitigated or even avoided if the zirconium-based alloys were coated with a protective thin film.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energetic particle irradiation study of TiN coatings: are these films appropriate for accident tolerant fuels?

Tunes

Silva

Camara

et al. 2018

Journal of Nuclear Materials

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Coating nuclear fuel cladding alloys with hard thin films has been considered as an innovative solution to increase the safety of nuclear reactors, in particular during a of loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA). In this context, and due to its suitable mechanical properties and high corrosion resistance, titanium nitride thin films have been proposed as candidate coatings for zirconium alloys in new accident tolerant fuels for light water reactors. Although the properties of TiN hard coatings are known to be adequate for such applications, the understanding of how the exposure to energetic particle irradiation changes the microstructure and properties of these thin films is still not fully understood. Herein, we report on heavy ion irradiation in situ within a Transmission Electron Microscopy of magnetronsputtered TiN thin films. The coatings were irradiated with 134 keV Xe + ions at 473K to a fluence of 6.7×10 15 ions•cm −2 corresponding to 6.2 displacements-per-atom where significative microstructural alterations have been observed. Post-irradiation analytic characterisation with Energy Filtered TEM and Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy carried out in a Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope indicates that TiN thin films are subjected to Radiation Induced Segregation. Additionally, the nucleation and growth of Xe bubbles appears to play a major role in the dissociation of the TiN thin film.

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“…Dense He bubbles after He irradiation in: ( a ) Al [10]; ( b ) tungsten [11]; and ( c ) Zr [12]. Reprinted with permission from [10]; Copyright 2015 Elsevier; Reprinted with permission from [11]; Copyright 2000 Elsevier; Reprinted with permission from [12]; Copyright 2017 Elsevier.…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, ( n , α) reactions produce abundant helium (He) atoms in materials. As He has extremely low solubility in metals, it tends to accumulate and precipitate into nanoscale He bubbles in nuclear structure materials [8,9,10,11,12,13,14]. Figure 1 shows typical examples of transmission electron microscope (TEM) images of He bubbles formed in Al [10], tungsten [11] and Zr [12,13,14] after He + ion irradiation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It has been well demonstrated that even extremely low overall He concentration can lead to He embrittlement via formation of He bubbles along grain boundaries (GBs) [18,19]. In view of this, several decades of investigations have been conducted to unveil He behaviors and underlying mechanisms for He-induced degradation in metals [8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24]. Both experiments and atomic simulations are adopted to investigate He bubble formation, dynamic evolution and their effects on mechanical properties of metals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Radiation-Induced Helium Bubbles in Metals

Han

2019

Materials

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Helium (He) bubbles are typical radiation defects in structural materials in nuclear reactors after high dose energetic particle irradiation. In the past decades, extensive studies have been conducted to explore the dynamic evolution of He bubbles under various conditions and to investigate He-induced hardening and embrittlement. In this review, we summarize the current understanding of the behavior of He bubbles in metals; overview the mechanisms of He bubble nucleation, growth, and coarsening; introduce the latest methods of He control by using interfaces in nanocrystalline metals and metallic multilayers; analyze the effects of He bubbles on strength and ductility of metals; and point out some remaining questions related to He bubbles that are crucial for design of advanced radiation-tolerant materials.

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Effect of He implantation on the microstructure of zircaloy-4 studied using in situ TEM

Cited by 26 publications

References 56 publications

Investigating sluggish diffusion in a concentrated solid solution alloy using ion irradiation with in situ TEM

Investigating sluggish diffusion in a concentrated solid solution alloy using ion irradiation with in situ TEM

Energetic particle irradiation study of TiN coatings: are these films appropriate for accident tolerant fuels?

Radiation-Induced Helium Bubbles in Metals

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