Phase Field Simulation of Bubble Evolution Dynamics in Fe-Cr Alloys
Received date: 2022-12-08
Revised date: 2023-02-17
Online published: 2023-06-05
Supported by
National Natural Science Foundation of China(U2267253,51704243);Natural Science Basic Research Plan in Shaanxi Province of China(2022JM-238)
Fe-Cr alloys are essential materials for core reactor components. The long-term in-core service of these components under intense radiation, thermal, and stress coupling conditions may potentially expedite the degradation of their mechanical properties. Radiation defects and insoluble helium gas molecules are generally trapped in voids or grain boundaries, forming intra- or intergranular fission gas bubbles. These bubbles cause irreversible radiation volumetric swelling and brittleness. However, a comprehensive understanding of the bubble formation process, particularly the effects of Cr content and dislocation stress field on the formation, remains unclear. As a mesoscale simulation approach, the phase field model coupled with irradiation, temperature, and elastic stress has been employed to study bubble evolution influenced by alloy composition and dislocation configuration. This approach offers advantages when addressing bubble-formation-related issues on different spatial and temporal scales. In this work, the phase field method is employed to investigate bubble growth kinetics and the effects of Cr content and dislocation stress field on bubble formation and evolution in Fe-Cr alloy under radiation. The simulations reveal that in an oversaturated gas and vacancy system, gas atoms tend to cluster at heterogeneous nucleation sites, such as vacancy clusters and dislocations, and grow by absorbing vacancy and gas atoms. The bubbles maintain a constant gas concentration up to a certain size as they continue to grow by absorbing vacancies. However, when the vacancy saturation is high, a bubble will behave as a void if its outward pressure is lower than the equilibrium pressure of a bubble of the same size. Cr additives reduce the diffusion rate of gas atoms and vacancies, extending the nucleation period of bubbles and decelerating their growth and coarsening. Dislocations cause vacancies and gaseous atoms to aggregate in the tension stress regions of the edge dislocation, enhancing the bubble's preferential heterogeneous nucleation in that area. This work discusses key kinetic elements affecting bubble evolution, including intrinsic microstructures and diffusivity. Further, it provides inspiration for future material designs for improving irradiation resistance and long-term service stability.
Key words: bubble; phase field; irradiation; stress field
LIU Caiyan , FENG Zehua , ZHANG Yunpeng , YU Kang , WU Lu , MA Cong , ZHANG Jing . Phase Field Simulation of Bubble Evolution Dynamics in Fe-Cr Alloys[J]. Acta Metall Sin, 2024 , 60(9) : 1279 -1288 . DOI: 10.11900/0412.1961.2022.00622
| 1 | Martin G, Garcia P, Sabathier C, et al. Irradiation-induced heterogeneous nucleation in uranium dioxide [J]. Phys. Lett., 2010, 374A: 3038 |
| 2 | Gao J, Gaganidze E, Kaiser B, et al. Evolution mechanisms of irradiation-induced helium bubbles, C15 clusters and dislocation loops in ferrite/martensite steels: A cluster dynamics modeling study [J]. J. Nucl. Mater., 2021, 557: 153212 |
| 3 | Garcia P, Martin G, Sabathier C, et al. Nucleation and growth of intragranular defect and insoluble atom clusters in nuclear oxide fuels [J]. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res., 2012, 277B: 98 |
| 4 | Liang L Y, Mei Z G, Soo Kim Y, et al. Three-dimensional phase-field simulations of intragranular gas bubble evolution in irradiated U-Mo fuel [J]. Comput. Mater. Sci., 2018, 145: 86 |
| 5 | Wang J L, Liu D P, Dang W Q, et al. Segregation and coalescence behavior of helium bubbles in tungsten [J]. J. Nucl. Mater., 2021, 544: 152732 |
| 6 | Millett P C, Tonks M R, Biner S B, et al. Phase-field simulation of intergranular bubble growth and percolation in bicrystals [J]. J. Nucl. Mater., 2012, 425: 130 |
| 7 | Aagesen L K, Andersson D, Beeler B W, et al. Phase-field simulations of intergranular fission gas bubble behavior in U3Si2 nuclear fuel [J]. J. Nucl. Mater., 2020, 541: 152415 |
| 8 | Aagesen L K, Schwen D, Tonks M R, et al. Phase-field modeling of fission gas bubble growth on grain boundaries and triple junctions in UO2 nuclear fuel [J]. Comput. Mater. Sci., 2019, 161: 35 |
| 9 | Zhang C H, Chen K Q, Wang Y S, et al. Diffusion of helium and nucleation-growth of helium-bubbles in metallic materials [J]. Nucl. Phys. Rev., 2001, 18: 50 |
| 张崇宏, 陈克勤, 王引书 等. 金属材料中氦的扩散与氦泡的形核生长研究 [J]. 原子核物理评论, 2001, 18: 50 | |
| 10 | Wang J, Yu L M, Huang Y, et al. Effects of dislocation density, temperature and Cr concentration on helium behavior in α-Fe [J]. Comput. Mater. Sci., 2019, 160: 105 |
| 11 | Yang Y C, Ding J H, Zhang H L, et al. Atomistic understanding of helium behaviors at grain boundaries in vanadium [J]. Comput. Mater. Sci., 2019, 158: 296 |
| 12 | Hu S Y, Beeler B. Gas bubble evolution in polycrystalline UMo fuels under elastic-plastic deformation: A phase-field model with crystal-plasticity [J]. Front. Mater., 2021, 8: 682667 |
| 13 | Barani T, Pastore G, Magni A, et al. Modeling intra-granular fission gas bubble evolution and coarsening in uranium dioxide during in-pile transients [J]. J. Nucl. Mater., 2020, 538: 152195 |
| 14 | Xiao Z H, Wang Y F, Hu S Y, et al. A quantitative phase-field model of gas bubble evolution in UO2 [J]. Comput. Mater. Sci., 2020, 184: 109867 |
| 15 | Wang Y F, Xiao Z H, Hu S Y, et al. A phase field study of the thermal migration of gas bubbles in UO2 nuclear fuel under temperature gradient [J]. Comput. Mater. Sci., 2020, 183: 109817 |
| 16 | Li Y, Ma D C, Wang B. Influence of bulk free energy density on single void evolution based on the phase-field method [J]. Comput. Mater. Sci., 2019, 163: 100 |
| 17 | Yang H, Feng Z H, Wang H R, et al. Phase-field modeling of irradiated void microstructure evolution of Fe-Cr alloy [J]. Acta Phys. Sin., 2021, 70: 054601 |
| 杨 辉, 冯泽华, 王贺然 等. Fe-Cr合金辐照空洞微结构演化的相场法模拟 [J]. 物理学报, 2021, 70: 054601 | |
| 18 | Chen W J, Zhou Y A, Wang S X, et al. Phase field study the effects of interfacial energy anisotropy on the thermal migration of voids [J]. Comput. Mater. Sci., 2019, 159: 177 |
| 19 | Hu S Y, Henager C H, Heinisch H L, et al. Phase-field modeling of gas bubbles and thermal conductivity evolution in nuclear fuels [J]. J. Nucl. Mater., 2009, 392: 292 |
| 20 | Morishita K, Sugano R. Mechanism map for nucleation and growth of helium bubbles in metals [J]. J. Nucl. Mater., 2006, 353: 52 |
| 21 | Trinkaus H. Energetics and formation kinetics of helium bubbles in metals [J]. Radiation Effects, 1983, 78: 189 |
| 22 | Hu S Y, Chen L Q. A phase-field model for evolving microstructures with strong elastic inhomogeneity [J]. Acta Mater., 2001, 49: 1879 |
| 23 | Rodney D, Le Bouar Y, Finel A. Phase field methods and dislocations [J]. Acta Mater., 2003, 51: 17 |
| 24 | Wang Y U, Jin Y M, Cuiti?o A M, et al. Phase field microelasticity theory and modeling of multiple dislocation dynamics [J]. Appl. Phys. Lett., 2001, 78: 2324 |
| 25 | Flynn C P. Atomic migration in monatomic crystals [J]. Phys. Rev., 1968, 171: 920 |
| 26 | Millett P C, El-Azab A, Wolf D. Phase-field simulation of irradiated metals: Part II: Gas bubble kinetics [J]. Comput. Mater. Sci., 2011, 50: 960 |
| 27 | Was G S. Fundamentals of Radiation Materials Science [M]. Berlin: Springer, 2007: 415 |
| 28 | Konings R J M. Comprehensive Nuclear Materials [M]. Amsterdam: Elsevier Ltd., 2012: 140 |
| 29 | Terentyev D, Juslin N, Nordlund K, et al. Fast three dimensional migration of He clusters in bcc Fe and Fe-Cr alloys [J]. J. Appl. Phys., 2009, 105: 103509 |
/
| 〈 |
|
〉 |