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Radiation Damage in Materials: Coupled Extreme Environments

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 October 2022) | Viewed by 16010

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Dr. Yongqiang Wang

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Guest Editor

Materials Science & Technology Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87544, USA
Interests: Ion enhanced synthesis; ion implantation; radiation damage; irradiated materials; thin films; surface characterization; complex oxides; nuclear materials
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Dr. Khalid Hattar

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Guest Editor

Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87185, USA
Interests: in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM); ion beam modification (IBM); extreme environments; in situ scanning electron microscopy (SEM); nanostructure stability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Understanding radiation damage effects in materials used in complex real-world extreme environments has been an ongoing challenge for several decades. The complexity stems from not only the fundamental particle–solid interactions and the subsequent damage recovery dynamics after collision cascades, which involve a large range of both spatial and temporal length scales, but also the transmuted impurities that are unavoidable from accompanying nuclear processes (e.g., helium incorporation) and their interactions with both intrinsic and extrinsic defects through damage recovery and defect evolution processes. Adding to the complexity is the co-existence of other extreme environments (thermal, mechanical, chemical, etc.) that materials often face in addition to radiation and their synergistic effects on material performance.

Whether it be in space applications or terrestrial nuclear power, the overlapping stressors created by these coupled extreme environments can result in deleterious and often unexpected failures. Designing new materials at atomistic scales that can withstand synergistic impacts from multiple stressors has become a frontier in materials science. This Special Issue, “Radiation Damage in Materials—Coupled Extreme Environments”, invites review articles, full-length papers, short communications on new irradiation material research activities, and novel material ideas that focus on understanding and controlling the mechanisms active during exposure to overlapping harsh environments. Manuscripts utilizing experimental and/or modeling approaches are encouraged in material systems, including but not limited to advanced structural steels for fast fission/fusion applications, plasma facing materials such as tungsten in fusion devices, actinide-bearing ceramic materials for nuclear waste storage, and electronic materials for space applications. Research comparing radiation types and parameters (i.e., responses of materials to neutrons vs. ions, or ionizing photons vs electrons) as well as contributions developing novel in situ defect characterization techniques are highly encouraged.

Dr. Yongqiang Wang
Dr. Khalid Hattar
Guest Editors

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Keywords

extreme environments
radiation effects
high temperature
corrosion
mechanical
ion irradiation

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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11 pages, 2070 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Novel Microshear Geometry for Exploring the Influence of Void Swelling on the Mechanical Properties Induced by MeV Heavy Ion Irradiation

by Jonathan G. Gigax, Matthew R. Chancey, Dongyue Xie, Hyosim Kim, Yongqiang Wang, Stuart A. Maloy and Nan Li

Materials 2022, 15(12), 4253; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15124253 - 15 Jun 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1634

Abstract

Small disks are often the specimen of choice for exposure in nuclear reactor environments, and this geometry invariably limits the types of mechanical testing that can be performed on the specimen. Recently, shear punch testing has been utilized to evaluate changes arising from neutron irradiation in test reactor environments on these small disk specimens. As part of a broader effort to link accelerated testing using ion irradiation and conventional neutron irradiation techniques, a novel microshear specimen geometry was developed for use with heavy-ion irradiated specimens. The technique was demonstrated in pure Cu irradiated to 11 and 110 peak dpa with 10 MeV Cu ions. At 11 peak dpa, the Cu specimen had a high density of small voids in the irradiated region, while at 110 peak dpa, larger voids with an average void swelling of ~20% were observed. Micropillar and microshear specimens both exhibited hardening at 11 dpa, followed by softening at 110 dpa. The close alignment of the new microshear technique and more conventional micropillar testing, and the fact that both follow intuition, is a good first step towards applying microshear testing to a wider range of irradiated materials. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Radiation Damage in Materials: Coupled Extreme Environments)

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12 pages, 1798 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Implications of Microstructure in Helium-Implanted Nanocrystalline Metals

by James E. Nathaniel II, Osman El-Atwani, Shu Huang, Jaime Marian, Asher C. Leff, Jon K. Baldwin, Khalid Hattar and Mitra L. Taheri

Materials 2022, 15(12), 4092; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15124092 - 9 Jun 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1873

Abstract

Helium bubbles are known to form in nuclear reactor structural components when displacement damage occurs in conjunction with helium exposure and/or transmutation. If left unchecked, bubble production can cause swelling, blistering, and embrittlement, all of which substantially degrade materials and—moreover—diminish mechanical properties. On the mission to produce more robust materials, nanocrystalline (NC) metals show great potential and are postulated to exhibit superior radiation resistance due to their high defect and particle sink densities; however, much is still unknown about the mechanisms of defect evolution in these systems under extreme conditions. Here, the performances of NC nickel (Ni) and iron (Fe) are investigated under helium bombardment via transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Bubble density statistics are measured as a function of grain size in specimens implanted under similar conditions. While the overall trends revealed an increase in bubble density up to saturation in both samples, bubble density in Fe was over 300% greater than in Ni. To interrogate the kinetics of helium diffusion and trapping, a rate theory model is developed that substantiates that helium is more readily captured within grains in helium-vacancy complexes in NC Fe, whereas helium is more prone to traversing the grain matrices and migrating to GBs in NC Ni. Our results suggest that (1) grain boundaries can affect bubble swelling in grain matrices significantly and can have a dominant effect over crystal structure, and (2) an NC-Ni-based material can yield superior resistance to irradiation-induced bubble growth compared to an NC-Fe-based material and exhibits high potential for use in extreme environments where swelling due to He bubble formation is of significant concern. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Radiation Damage in Materials: Coupled Extreme Environments)

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13 pages, 6322 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Stress on Irradiation Responses of Highly Oriented Pyrolytic Graphite

by Zhihan Hu, Di Chen, SeungSu Kim, Rijul Chauhan, Yongchang Li and Lin Shao

Materials 2022, 15(10), 3415; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15103415 - 10 May 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1802

Abstract

The effect of stress on irradiation responses of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) was studied by combing molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, proton irradiation, and Raman characterization. MD simulations of carbon knock-on at energies < 60 eV were used to obtain average threshold displacement [...] Read more.

{\bar{E}}_{d}

) as a function of strain ranging from 0 to 10%. Simulations at a higher irradiation energy of 2–5 keV were used to study the effect of strain on damage cascade evolution. With increasing tensile strain,

{\bar{E}}_{d}

was reduced from 35 eV at 0% strain to 31 eV at 10% strain. The strain-reduced

{\bar{E}}_{d}

led to a higher damage peak and more surviving defects (up to 1 ps). Furthermore, high strains induced local cleavage around the cavities, as one additional mechanism of damage enhancement. Experimentally, HOPG film was folded, and the folded region with the maximum tensile stress was irradiated by a 2 MeV proton beam. Raman characterization showed significantly enhanced D to G modes in comparison to the stress-free irradiation. Based on the strain dependence of

{\bar{E}}_{d}

and the Kinchin–Pease model, a formula for displacement estimation under different tensile strains is proposed. The stress effects need to be considered in graphite applications in a reactor’s harsh environment where both neutron damage and stress are present. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Radiation Damage in Materials: Coupled Extreme Environments)

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13 pages, 6018 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Preparation of Amorphous ZrC/Nanocrystalline Ni Multilayers and the Resistance to He⁺ Irradiation

by Shengming Jiang, Ruihua Zhu, Xiaotian Hu, Jian Zhang and Zijing Huang

Materials 2022, 15(9), 3059; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15093059 - 22 Apr 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1910

Abstract

The development of accident-tolerant materials is of great significance for preventing the zirconium–water reactions and improving the inherent safety of nuclear reactors. In this study, ZrC/Ni multilayers with average layer thicknesses of 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 nm were designed and successfully fabricated by magnetron sputtering. The characterization results of GIXRD, SEM, AFM, TEM, etc., show that the series of films are mainly composed of alternately deposited Ni crystalline layers and ZrC amorphous layers, and the interface is clear. The films were irradiated with 50 keV He⁺ with a fluence of 1.0 × 10¹⁷ ions/cm² at room temperature, and the films with different layer thicknesses kept the original phase composition. It was found that an amorphous transition layer with a thickness of about 30 nm appeared between the amorphous and crystalline interface of the 100 nm film by TEM characterization. The analysis shows that this layer is formed by the mixing of Ni and Zr elements induced by irradiation, which is not conducive to He⁺ migration and produces large-sized helium bubbles. The appearance of the transition layer improves the irradiation stability of the amorphous/crystalline composite film, thus providing a theoretical basis for the application of this type of material in fuel cladding. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Radiation Damage in Materials: Coupled Extreme Environments)

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13 pages, 5668 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Helium Bubbles and Blistering in a Nanolayered Metal/Hydride Composite

by Caitlin A. Taylor, Eric Lang, Paul G. Kotula, Ronald Goeke, Clark S. Snow, Yongqiang Wang and Khalid Hattar

Materials 2021, 14(18), 5393; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14185393 - 18 Sep 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2520

Abstract

Helium is insoluble in most metals and precipitates out to form nanoscale bubbles when the concentration is greater than 1 at.%, which can alter the material properties. Introducing controlled defects such as multilayer interfaces may offer some level of helium bubble management. This study investigates the effects of multilayered composites on helium behavior in ion-implanted, multilayered ErD₂/Mo thin film composites. Following in-situ and ex-situ helium implantation, scanning and transmission electron microscopy showed the development of spherical helium bubbles within the matrix, but primarily at the layer interfaces. Bubble linkage and surface blistering is observed after high fluence ex-situ helium implantation. These results show the ability of metallic multilayers to alter helium bubble distributions even in the presence of a hydride layer, increasing the lifetime of materials in helium environments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Radiation Damage in Materials: Coupled Extreme Environments)

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24 pages, 6512 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceReview

Irradiation-Induced Amorphous-to-Crystalline Phase Transformations in Ceramic Materials

by Cyrus Koroni, Tristan Olsen, Janelle P. Wharry and Hui Xiong

Materials 2022, 15(17), 5924; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15175924 - 27 Aug 2022

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2828

Abstract

Amorphous ceramics are a unique class of materials with unusual properties and functionalities. While these materials are known to crystallize when subjected to thermal annealing, they have sometimes been observed to crystallize athermally when exposed to extreme irradiation environments. Because irradiation is almost universally understood to introduce disorder into materials, these observations of irradiation-induced ordering or crystallization are unusual and may partially explain the limited research into this phenomenon. However, the archival literature presents a growing body of evidence of these irradiation-induced amorphous-to-crystalline (a-to-c) phase transformations in ceramics. In this perspective, the summary and review of examples from the literature of irradiation-induced a-to-c transformations for various classifications of ceramics are provided. This work will highlight irradiation conditions and material parameters that appear most influential for activating a-to-c transformations, identify trends, examine possible mechanisms, and discuss the impact of a-to-c transformations on material properties. Finally, future research directions that will enable researchers to harness a-to-c transformations to tailor materials behaviors will be provided. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Radiation Damage in Materials: Coupled Extreme Environments)

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17 pages, 4824 KiB

Open AccessReview

A Review of Irradiation Damage and Effects in α-Uranium

by Arunkumar Seshadri, Andrea M. Jokisaari and Cheng Sun

Materials 2022, 15(12), 4106; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15124106 - 9 Jun 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2116

Abstract

Understanding irradiation damage and effects in α-uranium (α-U) is critical to modeling the behavior of U-based metallic fuels. The aim of this review is to address the renewed interest in U-based metallic fuels by examining the state-of-the-art knowledge associated with the effect of irradiation on the microstructure, dimensional changes, and properties of α-U. We critically review the research progress on irradiation-induced growth and swelling, the enhancement of plastic flow and superplasticity by irradiation, and the effect of irradiation on thermal and electrical properties of α-U. Finally, we outline the research directions that require advancements, specifically the need to carry out fundamental research on several of the less understood mechanisms of irradiation damage and effects in α-U. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Radiation Damage in Materials: Coupled Extreme Environments)

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