Phase decomposition and bubble evolution in Xe implanted U                         3                         Si                         2                          at 450                         ∘                         C

Yinbin Miao; Jason Harp; Kun Mo; Zhi Gang Mei; Ruqing Xu; Shaofei Zhu; Abdellatif M. Yacout

doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2019.02.004

Phase decomposition and bubble evolution in Xe implanted U ₃ Si ₂ at 450 ^∘ C

Yinbin Miao, Jason Harp, Kun Mo, Zhi Gang Mei, Ruqing Xu, Shaofei Zhu, Abdellatif M. Yacout

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

The microstructure investigations of a U ₃ Si ₂ specimen implanted by 84 MeV Xe ions at 450 ^∘ C are reported here. In the region that corresponds to the highest irradiation dose, U ₃ Si ₂ was found to decompose into a Si-enriched nanocrystalline USi matrix phase and a U-enriched amorphous inclusion phase. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were used to help understand the decomposition mechanism. Xe bubbles of different morphologies were observed in USi nano-grains, on USi grain boundaries, and phase boundaries. Original U ₃ Si ₂ micro-grains were preserved on both sides of the irradiation damage peak region within the sample, implying a radiation dose threshold for decomposition of approximately 150 dpa at 450 ^∘ C. In the preserved U ₃ Si ₂ region beneath the irradiation damage peak, where significant amount of Xe ions were deposited, a monomodal size distribution of intragranular Xe bubbles with an average size of 2.68 nm formed. In both decomposed and preserved U ₃ Si ₂ , the size of Xe bubbles was found to be lower than 50 nm. Based on this observation, the fission gas behavior of U ₃ Si ₂ is controllable and free of run-away swelling despite the occurrence of decomposition at this irradiation temperature.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	108-116
Number of pages	9
Journal	Journal of Nuclear Materials
Volume	518
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2019.02.004
State	Published - May 2019
Externally published	Yes

Funding

This work was funded by the Accident Tolerant Fuel High-Impact Problems (ATF HIP) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program. The authors would also like to acknowledge the help of Matthew Hendricks on the ATLAS irradiation. This research used resources of Argonne National Laboratory's ATLAS facility and the Advanced Photon Source, which are both DOE Office of Science User Facilities. The efforts involving Argonne National Laboratory were sponsored under Contract no. DE-AC02-06CH11357 between UChicago Argonne, LLC and the U.S. Department of Energy. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy under DOE Idaho Operations Office Contract DE-AC07-051D14517 as part of a Nuclear Science User Facilities experiment. The isotope(s) used in this research were supplied by the United States Department of Energy Office of Science by the Isotope Program in the Office of Nuclear Physics.Fabrication of the samples used in this work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy. Fabrication was part of a collaboration led by Westinghouse Electric Company comprising several national laboratories, vendors, and universities awarded in response to the DE-FOA-0001063 funding opportunity. The authors would like to acknowledge the assistance of the support staff associated with the Fuels Applied Science Building at Idaho National Laboratory specifically Rita Hoggan for preparing samples for ion irradiation. This work was funded by the Accident Tolerant Fuel High-Impact Problems (ATF HIP) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program. The authors would also like to acknowledge the help of Matthew Hendricks on the ATLAS irradiation. This research used resources of Argonne National Laboratory's ATLAS facility and the Advanced Photon Source, which are both DOE Office of Science User Facilities. The efforts involving Argonne National Laboratory were sponsored under Contract no. DE-AC02-06CH11357 between UChicago Argonne, LLC and the U.S. Department of Energy. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy , Office of Nuclear Energy under DOE Idaho Operations Office Contract DE-AC07-051D14517 as part of a Nuclear Science User Facilities experiment. The isotope(s) used in this research were supplied by the United States Department of Energy Office of Science by the Isotope Program in the Office of Nuclear Physics.

Funders	Funder number
ATF HIP
Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation
U.S. Department of Energy	DE-FOA-0001063
Office of Nuclear Energy	DE-AC07-051D14517
Argonne National Laboratory	DE-AC02-06CH11357

Keywords

Accident tolerant fuel
Fission gas behavior
Ion irradiation
Light water reactor (LWR)
Microstructure characterization
U Si

Access to Document

10.1016/j.jnucmat.2019.02.004

Cite this

Miao, Y., Harp, J., Mo, K., Mei, Z. G., Xu, R., Zhu, S., & Yacout, A. M. (2019). Phase decomposition and bubble evolution in Xe implanted U ₃ Si ₂ at 450 ^∘ C Journal of Nuclear Materials, 518, 108-116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2019.02.004

Miao, Yinbin ; Harp, Jason ; Mo, Kun et al. / Phase decomposition and bubble evolution in Xe implanted U ₃ Si ₂ at 450 ^∘ C In: Journal of Nuclear Materials. 2019 ; Vol. 518. pp. 108-116.

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title = " Phase decomposition and bubble evolution in Xe implanted U 3 Si 2 at 450 ∘ C ",

abstract = " The microstructure investigations of a U 3 Si 2 specimen implanted by 84 MeV Xe ions at 450 ∘ C are reported here. In the region that corresponds to the highest irradiation dose, U 3 Si 2 was found to decompose into a Si-enriched nanocrystalline USi matrix phase and a U-enriched amorphous inclusion phase. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were used to help understand the decomposition mechanism. Xe bubbles of different morphologies were observed in USi nano-grains, on USi grain boundaries, and phase boundaries. Original U 3 Si 2 micro-grains were preserved on both sides of the irradiation damage peak region within the sample, implying a radiation dose threshold for decomposition of approximately 150 dpa at 450 ∘ C. In the preserved U 3 Si 2 region beneath the irradiation damage peak, where significant amount of Xe ions were deposited, a monomodal size distribution of intragranular Xe bubbles with an average size of 2.68 nm formed. In both decomposed and preserved U 3 Si 2 , the size of Xe bubbles was found to be lower than 50 nm. Based on this observation, the fission gas behavior of U 3 Si 2 is controllable and free of run-away swelling despite the occurrence of decomposition at this irradiation temperature.",

keywords = "Accident tolerant fuel, Fission gas behavior, Ion irradiation, Light water reactor (LWR), Microstructure characterization, U Si",

author = "Yinbin Miao and Jason Harp and Kun Mo and Mei, {Zhi Gang} and Ruqing Xu and Shaofei Zhu and Yacout, {Abdellatif M.}",

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Miao, Y, Harp, J, Mo, K, Mei, ZG, Xu, R, Zhu, S & Yacout, AM 2019, ' Phase decomposition and bubble evolution in Xe implanted U ₃ Si ₂ at 450 ^∘ C ', Journal of Nuclear Materials, vol. 518, pp. 108-116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2019.02.004

Phase decomposition and bubble evolution in Xe implanted U ₃ Si ₂ at 450 ^∘ C . / Miao, Yinbin; Harp, Jason; Mo, Kun et al.
In: Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 518, 05.2019, p. 108-116.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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AU - Zhu, Shaofei

AU - Yacout, Abdellatif M.

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N2 - The microstructure investigations of a U 3 Si 2 specimen implanted by 84 MeV Xe ions at 450 ∘ C are reported here. In the region that corresponds to the highest irradiation dose, U 3 Si 2 was found to decompose into a Si-enriched nanocrystalline USi matrix phase and a U-enriched amorphous inclusion phase. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were used to help understand the decomposition mechanism. Xe bubbles of different morphologies were observed in USi nano-grains, on USi grain boundaries, and phase boundaries. Original U 3 Si 2 micro-grains were preserved on both sides of the irradiation damage peak region within the sample, implying a radiation dose threshold for decomposition of approximately 150 dpa at 450 ∘ C. In the preserved U 3 Si 2 region beneath the irradiation damage peak, where significant amount of Xe ions were deposited, a monomodal size distribution of intragranular Xe bubbles with an average size of 2.68 nm formed. In both decomposed and preserved U 3 Si 2 , the size of Xe bubbles was found to be lower than 50 nm. Based on this observation, the fission gas behavior of U 3 Si 2 is controllable and free of run-away swelling despite the occurrence of decomposition at this irradiation temperature.

AB - The microstructure investigations of a U 3 Si 2 specimen implanted by 84 MeV Xe ions at 450 ∘ C are reported here. In the region that corresponds to the highest irradiation dose, U 3 Si 2 was found to decompose into a Si-enriched nanocrystalline USi matrix phase and a U-enriched amorphous inclusion phase. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were used to help understand the decomposition mechanism. Xe bubbles of different morphologies were observed in USi nano-grains, on USi grain boundaries, and phase boundaries. Original U 3 Si 2 micro-grains were preserved on both sides of the irradiation damage peak region within the sample, implying a radiation dose threshold for decomposition of approximately 150 dpa at 450 ∘ C. In the preserved U 3 Si 2 region beneath the irradiation damage peak, where significant amount of Xe ions were deposited, a monomodal size distribution of intragranular Xe bubbles with an average size of 2.68 nm formed. In both decomposed and preserved U 3 Si 2 , the size of Xe bubbles was found to be lower than 50 nm. Based on this observation, the fission gas behavior of U 3 Si 2 is controllable and free of run-away swelling despite the occurrence of decomposition at this irradiation temperature.

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Miao Y, Harp J, Mo K, Mei ZG, Xu R, Zhu S et al. Phase decomposition and bubble evolution in Xe implanted U ₃ Si ₂ at 450 ^∘ C Journal of Nuclear Materials. 2019 May;518:108-116. doi: 10.1016/j.jnucmat.2019.02.004