Effects of Stress on Void Formation under Irradiation

We investigate the effects of stress on the nucleation and growth of voids in irradiated materials with a phase-field approach. The formulation couples point defect dynamics and void evolution with elastic effects due to the non-uniform lattice relaxation defects and inhomogeneity effects introduced...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:AIP conference proceedings 2012-03
Main Authors: Rokkam, Srujan, Ahmed, Karim, El-Azab, Anter
Format: Article
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We investigate the effects of stress on the nucleation and growth of voids in irradiated materials with a phase-field approach. The formulation couples point defect dynamics and void evolution with elastic effects due to the non-uniform lattice relaxation defects and inhomogeneity effects introduced by voids. The coupled problem requires the solution of two Cahn-Hilliard equations for evolution of vacancy and interstitial concentration fields, an Allen-Cahn equation for void phase dynamics, and a subsidiary stress equilibrium problem. Analysis of the coupled model recovers the corresponding sharp interface formalism for point defects diffusion and void growth under applied stress, with zero traction boundary condition over the void surfaces. We present the formalism and discuss results showing the effect of applied stress on the defect migration, void growth, void-void interactions and void self-organization. This research was supported by the EFRC on Materials Science of Nuclear Fuel under subcontract 00091538 from INL to FSU.
ISSN:0094-243X