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Microstructure, Mechanical Properties and Behaviour of Advanced Alloys and Materials for Nuclear Applications

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Materials Physics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 June 2025 | Viewed by 1556

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Alexis Rusinek

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
LEM3 - Laboratory of Microstructure Studies and Mechanics of Materials, UMR-CNRS 7239, Lorraine University, 7 rue Félix Savart, BP 15082, CEDEX 03, 57073 Metz, France
Interests: dynamic behaviour of materials; constitutive relations; elastic wave propagation; fracture; experiments; simulations
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Paul Wood

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Innovation in Sustainable Engineering, College of Science and Engineering, University of Derby, Derby DE22 1GB, UK
Interests: process–microstructure–property relation in the additive manufacturing and machining of high-temperature superalloys for transport and nuclear applications
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to contribute to a Special Issue focused on materials and structures used in nuclear applications. This research area plays a critical role in ensuring the safety, reliability, and sustainability of nuclear power plants and other nuclear facilities.

Nuclear energy continues to be a vital component of the global energy mix, providing a low-carbon alternative to fossil fuels. However, the materials and structures used in nuclear reactors and related facilities are subjected to extreme loading conditions, including high temperatures, radiation, and corrosive environments. Understanding the behavior of materials under these conditions is essential for the safe and efficient operation of nuclear systems.

This Special Issue aims to bring together cutting-edge research in the field of materials for nuclear applications, addressing topics such as corrosion resistance, failure mechanisms, phase transformations, and innovative material design. By exploring these themes, we aim to advance our understanding of the challenges and opportunities in nuclear materials science and engineering.

We welcome original research articles and reviews that contribute to the advancement of knowledge in this field. Submissions may cover a wide range of topics including, but not limited to, the following:

  • Material degradation mechanisms in nuclear environments;
  • Advanced materials for nuclear reactors and fuel cycles;
  • Radiation affects on structural materials;
  • Modeling and simulation of nuclear materials behavior;
  • Novel material synthesis and characterization techniques for nuclear applications;
  • Modeling and numerical simulations;
  • Constitutive relation related to specific materials.

We encourage authors to ensure that their submissions align with the scope of our journal and address the key themes outlined above. With your contributions, we aim to compile a comprehensive collection of articles that will serve as a valuable resource for researchers, engineers, and policymakers working in the field of nuclear materials science and engineering.

We look forward to receiving your contributions and to the success of this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Alexis Rusinek
Prof. Dr. Paul Wood
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • nuclear materials
  • extreme loading conditions
  • corrosion resistance
  • failure mechanisms
  • phase transformations
  • radiation effects
  • materials degradation
  • advanced materials design

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 7917 KiB  
Article
Revisiting the Dependence of Electrical Resistivity on Cu-Rich Precipitates in an Aged Fe-Cu Model Alloy: A Microstructure-Based Prediction Model
by Shengjun Xia, Menglin Gao, Xing Hu, Chunfa Huang, Shuaiheng Liang, Wenlu Zhang and Qiulin Li
Materials 2025, 18(4), 752; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18040752 - 8 Feb 2025
Viewed by 451
Abstract
Nanoscale Cu-rich precipitates (CRPs) play a crucial role in the irradiation embrittlement of reactor pressure vessels (RPVs), and binary Fe-Cu alloys serve as practical models to study the evolution of these precipitates. This study investigates the electrical resistivity of an Fe-1.17 wt.% Cu [...] Read more.
Nanoscale Cu-rich precipitates (CRPs) play a crucial role in the irradiation embrittlement of reactor pressure vessels (RPVs), and binary Fe-Cu alloys serve as practical models to study the evolution of these precipitates. This study investigates the electrical resistivity of an Fe-1.17 wt.% Cu model alloy aged at 450 °C to enhance the understanding of electrical measurements for the non-destructive assessment of RPV irradiation embrittlement. Multi-level characterization methods were used to obtain quantitative data on multi-scale microstructures, including precipitates, dislocations, and grains. The formation and growth of CRPs were found to align closely with the Johnson–Mehl–Avrami model, and the variation in electrical resistivity showed a strong correlation with the evolution of the microstructure. Combined with detailed quantitative microstructure evolution analysis, an electrical resistivity prediction model that considers microstructural mechanisms has been developed. This model can accurately show the effect of CRPs on resistivity and can potentially be extended to RPV steels with other solute-rich precipitates, with a maximum absolute percentage error not exceeding 5%. These results provide a robust basis for the non-destructive and in-service evaluation of RPV irradiation embrittlement using electrical resistivity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microstructure, Mechanical Properties and Behaviour of Advanced Alloys and Materials for Nuclear Applications)
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14 pages, 3352 KiB  
Article
Radiation Damage Mitigation in FeCrAl Alloy at Sub-Recrystallization Temperatures
by Md Hafijur Rahman, Md Abu Jafar Rasel, Christopher M. Smyth, Daudi Waryoba and Aman Haque
Materials 2025, 18(1), 124; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18010124 - 31 Dec 2024
Viewed by 604
Abstract
Traditional defect recovery methods rely on high-temperature annealing, often exceeding 750 °C for FeCrAl. In this study, we introduce electron wind force (EWF)-assisted annealing as an alternative approach to mitigate irradiation-induced defects at significantly lower temperatures. FeCrAl samples irradiated with 5 MeV Zr [...] Read more.
Traditional defect recovery methods rely on high-temperature annealing, often exceeding 750 °C for FeCrAl. In this study, we introduce electron wind force (EWF)-assisted annealing as an alternative approach to mitigate irradiation-induced defects at significantly lower temperatures. FeCrAl samples irradiated with 5 MeV Zr2+ ions at a dose of 1014 cm−2 were annealed using EWF at 250 °C for 60 s. We demonstrate a remarkable transformation in the irradiated microstructure, where significant increases in kernel average misorientation (KAM) and low-angle grain boundaries (LAGBs) typically indicate heightened defect density; the use of EWF annealing reversed these effects. X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed these findings, showing substantial reductions in full width at half maximum (FWHM) values and a realignment of peak positions toward their original states, indicative of stress and defect recovery. To compare the effectiveness of EWF, we also conducted traditional thermal annealing at 250 °C for 7 h, which proved less effective in defect recovery as evidenced by less pronounced improvements in XRD FWHM values. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microstructure, Mechanical Properties and Behaviour of Advanced Alloys and Materials for Nuclear Applications)
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