Bubble Swelling in Ferritic/Martensitic Steels Exposed to Radiation Environment with High Production Rate of Helium
Reduced-activativon ferritic/martensitic (RAFM) steels are prospective structural materials for fission/fusion nuclear applications because their radiation and swelling resistance outperforms their austenitic counterparts. In radiation environments with a high production rate of helium, such as fusi...
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MDPI AG
2021-06-01
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| Series: | Materials |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/14/11/2997 |
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| author | Stanislav Sojak Jarmila Degmova Pavol Noga Vladimir Krsjak Vladimir Slugen Tielong Shen |
| author_facet | Stanislav Sojak Jarmila Degmova Pavol Noga Vladimir Krsjak Vladimir Slugen Tielong Shen |
| author_sort | Stanislav Sojak |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Reduced-activativon ferritic/martensitic (RAFM) steels are prospective structural materials for fission/fusion nuclear applications because their radiation and swelling resistance outperforms their austenitic counterparts. In radiation environments with a high production rate of helium, such as fusion or spallation applications, these materials suffer from non-negligible swelling due to the inhibited recombination between vacancy and interstitial-type defects. In this work, swelling in helium-implanted Eurofer 97 steel is investigated with a focus on helium production rates in a wide range of helium/dpa ratios. The results show virtually no swelling incubation period preceding a steady-state swelling of about 2 × 10<sup>−4</sup>%/He-appm/dpa. A saturation of swelling above 5000 He-appm/dpa was observed and attributed to helium bubbles becoming the dominant sinks for new vacancies and helium atoms. Despite a relatively low irradiation temperature (65 ± 5 °C) and a rather high concentration of helium, transmission electron microscope (TEM) results confirmed a microstructure typical of ferritic/martensitic steels exposed to radiation environments with high production rates of helium. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T10:48:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-58ae7f4b272543f2aa4e2010373ed79b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-1944 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T10:48:46Z |
| publishDate | 2021-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Materials |
| spelling | doaj.art-58ae7f4b272543f2aa4e2010373ed79b2023-11-21T22:24:09ZengMDPI AGMaterials1996-19442021-06-011411299710.3390/ma14112997Bubble Swelling in Ferritic/Martensitic Steels Exposed to Radiation Environment with High Production Rate of HeliumStanislav Sojak0Jarmila Degmova1Pavol Noga2Vladimir Krsjak3Vladimir Slugen4Tielong Shen5Institute of Nuclear and Physical Engineering, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Ilkovičova 3, 81219 Bratislava, SlovakiaInstitute of Nuclear and Physical Engineering, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Ilkovičova 3, 81219 Bratislava, SlovakiaAdvanced Technologies Research Institute, Faculty of Materials Science and Technology in Trnava, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Jána Bottu 25, 91724 Trnava, SlovakiaInstitute of Nuclear and Physical Engineering, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Ilkovičova 3, 81219 Bratislava, SlovakiaInstitute of Nuclear and Physical Engineering, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Ilkovičova 3, 81219 Bratislava, SlovakiaInstitute of Modern Physics Lanzhou, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, ChinaReduced-activativon ferritic/martensitic (RAFM) steels are prospective structural materials for fission/fusion nuclear applications because their radiation and swelling resistance outperforms their austenitic counterparts. In radiation environments with a high production rate of helium, such as fusion or spallation applications, these materials suffer from non-negligible swelling due to the inhibited recombination between vacancy and interstitial-type defects. In this work, swelling in helium-implanted Eurofer 97 steel is investigated with a focus on helium production rates in a wide range of helium/dpa ratios. The results show virtually no swelling incubation period preceding a steady-state swelling of about 2 × 10<sup>−4</sup>%/He-appm/dpa. A saturation of swelling above 5000 He-appm/dpa was observed and attributed to helium bubbles becoming the dominant sinks for new vacancies and helium atoms. Despite a relatively low irradiation temperature (65 ± 5 °C) and a rather high concentration of helium, transmission electron microscope (TEM) results confirmed a microstructure typical of ferritic/martensitic steels exposed to radiation environments with high production rates of helium.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/14/11/2997RAFM steelsswellinghelium implantationhelium bubbleshelium embrittlement |
| spellingShingle | Stanislav Sojak Jarmila Degmova Pavol Noga Vladimir Krsjak Vladimir Slugen Tielong Shen Bubble Swelling in Ferritic/Martensitic Steels Exposed to Radiation Environment with High Production Rate of Helium Materials RAFM steels swelling helium implantation helium bubbles helium embrittlement |
| title | Bubble Swelling in Ferritic/Martensitic Steels Exposed to Radiation Environment with High Production Rate of Helium |
| title_full | Bubble Swelling in Ferritic/Martensitic Steels Exposed to Radiation Environment with High Production Rate of Helium |
| title_fullStr | Bubble Swelling in Ferritic/Martensitic Steels Exposed to Radiation Environment with High Production Rate of Helium |
| title_full_unstemmed | Bubble Swelling in Ferritic/Martensitic Steels Exposed to Radiation Environment with High Production Rate of Helium |
| title_short | Bubble Swelling in Ferritic/Martensitic Steels Exposed to Radiation Environment with High Production Rate of Helium |
| title_sort | bubble swelling in ferritic martensitic steels exposed to radiation environment with high production rate of helium |
| topic | RAFM steels swelling helium implantation helium bubbles helium embrittlement |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/14/11/2997 |
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