Journal article
Implications of Microstructure in Helium-Implanted Nanocrystalline Metals
MATERIALS, v 15(12), 4092
Jun 2022
PMID: 35744151
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.
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Details
- Title
- Implications of Microstructure in Helium-Implanted Nanocrystalline Metals
- Publication Details
- MATERIALS, v 15(12), 4092
- Publisher
- MDPI; BASEL
- Grant note
- M.L.T., J.E.N.II, O.E.-A. and A.C.L. acknowledge funding from the US Department of Energy (DOE) Basic Energy Sciences (BES) program under Grant DE-SC0008274. M.L.T., J.M., S.H., and J.E.N.II also acknowledge funding in part from U.S. DOE, BES through contract DE-SC0020314. K.H. was also supported by the U.S. DOE BES Materials Science and Engineering Division, but under a separate FWP 15013170. Access to the in situ irradiation capabilities were provided by the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, an Office of Science User Facility operated for the U.S. DOE Office of Science. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-mission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International, Inc., for the U.S. DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA-0003525. The views expressed in the article do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. DOE or the United States Government.
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Drexel University
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000817389700001
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85132121656
- Other Identifier
- 991021861312204721
InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Chemistry, Physical
- Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
- Metallurgy & Metallurgical Engineering
- Physics, Applied
- Physics, Condensed Matter