Void swelling and irradiation creep in light water reactor (LWR) environments

Garner, F.А.

doi:10.1533/9781845699956.2.308

Cited by 40 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Microstructural changes that are induced by neutron irradiation in nuclear reactor core structural materials are a critical issue concerning safety and materials performance of both fast reactors and light water reactors (LWRs) [1,2]. Some current reactor concepts call for core structural components to withstand as much as 500-600 displacements per atom (dpa) of neutron irradiation [3,4], while existing LWRs are being operated to lifetimes longer than originally planned, reaching perhaps ~200 dpa in some locations over an 80 year operating lifetime [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modification of SRIM-calculated dose and injected ion profiles due to sputtering, injected ion buildup and void swelling

Wang

Toloczko

Bailey

et al. 2016

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B:

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In radiation effects on materials utilizing self-ion irradiations, it is necessary to calculate the local displacement damage level and ion injection profile because of the short distance that self-ions travel in a material and because of the strong variation of displacement rate with depth in a specimen. The most frequently used tool for this is the software package called Stopping and Range of Ions in Matter (SRIM). A SRIM-calculated depth-dependent dose level is usually determined under the implicit assumption that the target does not undergo any significant changes in volume during the process, in particular SRIM ignores the effect of sputtering, injected ions, and void swelling on the redistribution of the dose and injected ion profiles. This approach become increasingly invalid as the ion fluence reaches ever higher levels, especially for low energy ion irradiations. The original surface is not maintained due to sputterinduced erosion, while within the irradiated region of the specimen, injected ions are adding material, and if void swelling is occurring, it is creating empty space. An iterative mathematical treatment of SRIM outputs to produce corrected dose and injected ion profiles based on these phenomenon and without regard to diffusion is presented along with examples of differences between SRIM-calculated values and corrected values over a range of typical ion energies. The intent is to provide the reader with a convenient tool for more accurately calculating dose and injected ion profiles for heavy-ion irradiations.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modification of SRIM-calculated dose and injected ion profiles due to sputtering, injected ion buildup and void swelling

Wang

Toloczko

Bailey

et al. 2016

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B:

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Microstructural changes and mechanical property degradation of reactor structural alloys under neutron damage in reactors present large challenges for reactor performance and safety [1][2][3]. Since its first observation in 1967 [4], neutron-induced void swelling in stainless steels especially has been a subject of intensive research, as swelling leads to significant dimensional instabilities via swelling and irradiation creep, with concurrent changes in mechanical and physical properties and also in new modes of embrittlement [2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. Swelling and bubble formation (both hereafter referred to as cavities) induced by charged particle irradiation is also being increasingly studied as a surrogate for neutron irradiation [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18].Void swelling is caused by incomplete interstitial-vacancy recombination and biased defect-sink interactions during displacive irradiation by neutrons or charged particles, and its general dependence on damage dose defined in displacements per atom (dpa), dpa rate, temperature, and stress are relatively well known [1][2][3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monte Carlo modeling of cavity imaging in pure iron using back-scatter electron scanning microscopy

Yan

Gigax

Chen

et al. 2016

Journal of Nuclear Materials

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Backscattered electrons (BSE) in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) can produce images of subsurface cavity distributions as a nondestructive characterization technique. Monte Carlo simulations were performed to understand the mechanism of void imaging and to identify key parameters in optimizing void resolution. The modeling explores an iron target of different thicknesses, electron beams of different energies, beam sizes, and scan pitch, evaluated for voids of different sizes and depths below the surface. The results show that the void image contrast is primarily caused by discontinuity of energy spectra of backscattered electrons, due to increased outward path lengths for those electrons which penetrate voids and are backscattered at deeper depths. Size resolution of voids at specific depths, and maximum detection depth of specific voids sizes are derived as a function of electron beam energy. The results are important for image optimization and data extraction.

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“…The phenomenon of cavities producing measureable values of swelling has been observed in other austenitic steel components from PWRs despite irradiation temperature and dose in ranges that normally do not contribute to swelling under high dose rate experimental observations [8][9][10]. The appearance of swelling in reactor-relevant conditions raises concerns over further life extension of components and the prospect for more severe void-induced embrittlement modes of failure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%