Mechanism of Radiation Damage Reduction in Equiatomic Multicomponent Single Phase Alloys
Top Cited Papers
Open Access
- 1 April 2016
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review Letters
- Vol. 116 (13), 135504
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.116.135504
Abstract
Recently a new class of metal alloys, of single-phase multicomponent composition at roughly equal atomic concentrations (“equiatomic”), have been shown to exhibit promising mechanical, magnetic, and corrosion resistance properties, in particular, at high temperatures. These features make them potential candidates for components of next-generation nuclear reactors and other high-radiation environments that will involve high temperatures combined with corrosive environments and extreme radiation exposure. In spite of a wide range of recent studies of many important properties of these alloys, their radiation tolerance at high doses remains unexplored. In this work, a combination of experimental and modeling efforts reveals a substantial reduction of damage accumulation under prolonged irradiation in single-phase NiFe and NiCoCr alloys compared to elemental Ni. This effect is explained by reduced dislocation mobility, which leads to slower growth of large dislocation structures. Moreover, there is no observable phase separation, ordering, or amorphization, pointing to a high phase stability of this class of alloys.Keywords
Funding Information
- Suomen Akatemia
- U.S. Department of Energy (DEAC02-05CH11231)
- Chrysler (DE-AC05-00OR22725)
- EUROfusion Consortium (633053)
This publication has 51 references indexed in Scilit:
- Comparison of empirical interatomic potentials for iron applied to radiation damage studiesJournal of Nuclear Materials, 2010
- Confinement of motion of interstitial clusters and dislocation loops in BCC Fe–Cr alloysJournal of Nuclear Materials, 2009
- Structural materials for Gen-IV nuclear reactors: Challenges and opportunitiesJournal of Nuclear Materials, 2008
- Plastic Deformation of Single Nanometer-Sized CrystalsPhysical Review Letters, 2008
- Materials needs for fusion, Generation IV fission reactors and spallation neutron sources – similarities and differencesJournal of Nuclear Materials, 2004
- Formation of stacking-fault tetrahedra in collision cascadesApplied Physics Letters, 1999
- Molecular dynamics investigations of surface damage produced by kiloelectronvolt self-bombardment of solidsPhilosophical Magazine A, 1999
- Computer simulation study of cascade overlap effects in α-ironJournal of Nuclear Materials, 1996
- Molecular dynamics with coupling to an external bathThe Journal of Chemical Physics, 1984
- Ion-irradiation studies of the damage function of copper and silverPhysical Review B, 1978