Defect sink characteristics of specific grain boundary types in 304 stainless steels under high dose neutron environments

Kevin G. Field, Ying Yang, Todd R. Allen, Jeremy T. Busby

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

34 Scopus citations

Abstract

Radiation induced segregation (RIS) is a well-studied phenomena which occurs in many structurally relevant nuclear materials including austenitic stainless steels. RIS occurs due to solute atoms preferentially coupling with mobile point defect fluxes that migrate and interact with defect sinks. Here, a 304 stainless steel was neutron irradiated up to 47.1 dpa at 320°C. Investigations into the RIS response at specific grain boundary types were used to determine the sink characteristics of different boundary types as a function of irradiation dose. A rate theory model built on the foundation of the modified inverse Kirkendall (MIK) model is proposed and benchmarked to the experimental results. This model, termed the GiMIK model, includes alterations in the boundary conditions based on grain boundary structure and expressions for interstitial binding. This investigation, through experiment and modeling, found specific grain boundary structures exhibiting unique defect sink characteristics depending on their local structure. Such interactions were found to be consistent across all doses investigated and to have larger global implications, including precipitation of Ni-Si clusters near different grain boundary types.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)438-449
Number of pages12
JournalActa Materialia
Volume89
DOIs
StatePublished - May 1 2015

Funding

Experiments by KGF were sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy , for the Light Water Reactor Sustainability Research and Development Effort. MIK/GiMIK modeling by YY was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy, for the Nuclear Energy Enabling Technology (NEET) program as part of the Reactor Materials Cross-cut activity. Assessment of the GiMIK model and development of sink strength concepts by KGF was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division . A part of the microscopy work by KGF was conducted at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS), which is a DOE Office of Science User Facility. The authors would like to thank Dr. L. Tan and Dr. M.N. Gussev from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for their fruitful discussions about the results. YY would also like to thank Dr. T.S. Duh for the discussion on the GiMIK model development.

Keywords

  • Grain boundary
  • Irradiation
  • Misorientation
  • Segregation
  • Steel

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Defect sink characteristics of specific grain boundary types in 304 stainless steels under high dose neutron environments'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this