Exploring new structural materials
with strong He damage tolerance
is one of the key tasks for the development of nuclear reactors. Helium
(He), one of the most common elements in the nuclear environment,
often forms undesired bubbles in metallic materials and may result
in void swelling as well as high-temperature intergranular embrittlement.
In this study, the behaviors of He in high-entropy alloy (HEA) TiZrHfMoNb
and its constituents are systematically investigated both theoretically
and experimentally. Density functional theory calculations show that
the He atom prefers to occupy tetrahedral and octahedral interstitial
sites in a HEA. The migration pathway for He in TiZrHfMoNb is explored
and the migration energy barrier is determined. Besides, the He clustering
behavior in TiZrHfMoNb is investigated. Through transmission electron
microscopy analysis, a smaller He bubble size is observed in TiZrHfMoNb
than in Ti, which is proposed to result from the lower tendency to
form He clusters, a weaker coarsening effect, and severe lattice distortion
in HEA. The current study thus provides deep insights into the He
behaviors in HEAs and may help to develop structural materials with
enhanced He damage tolerance in nuclear reactors.