Effects of Microstructural Factors on Irradiation Growth in Zirconium-Base Alloys

Abstract

The effects of microstructural factors on irradiation growth of zirconium-base alloys have been evaluated on the basis of a growth model in which point defects parameters obtained by molecular dynamics are used. Comparison of experimental data on specimens with well-defined microstructures and the calculated results of these data have confirmed predictive capability of the model. The calculated results show that irradiation growth could be reduced by the factors such as (1) an increase of the grain size, (2) a reduction of the grain aspect ratio, or (3) a decrease of the dislocation density.

Computing System for Evaluating Material Behaviors of Zirconium-Base Alloys.

“…The addition of suitable amount of Fe, Ni and Cr into zirconium matrix is known to suppress the oxidation of zirconium due to formation of low electronic conductivity oxide film. Oxide film has semi-conductor character and its energy band analysis gives useful information on electronic properties of the film (16).…”

“…In the present calculation, the interatomic potential derived on the basis of Johnson's method (16) has been adopted. In this case, the potential shape is basically determined by adjusting it to the elastic constants of the materials.…”