Modelling of Radiation Induced Segregation in Austenitic Fe Alloys at the Atomistic Level
Author | : Jean-Baptiste Piochaud |
Publisher | : |
Total Pages | : 0 |
Release | : 2013 |
ISBN-10 | : OCLC:869740047 |
ISBN-13 | : |
Rating | : 4/5 (47 Downloads) |
Book excerpt: In pressurized water reactors, under irradiation internal structures are subject of irradiation assisted stress corrosion cracking which is influenced by radiation induced segregation (RIS). In this work RIS of 316 stainless steels is modelled considering a model ternary Fe-10Ni-20Cr alloy. For this purpose we have built an Fe-Ni-Cr pair interaction model to simulate RIS at the atomistic level using an atomistic kinetic Monte Carlo approach. The pair interactions have been deduced from density functional theory (DFT) data available in the pure fcc systems but also from DFT calculations we have performed in the Fe-10Ni-20Cr target alloy. Point defect formation energies were calculated and found to depend strongly on the local environment of the defect. As a consequence, a rather good estimation of these energies can be obtained from the knowledge of the number and respective positions of the Ni and Cr atoms in the vicinity of the defect. This work shows that a model based only on interaction parameters between elements positioned in perfect lattice sites (solute atoms and vacancy) cannot capture alone both the thermodynamic and the kinetic aspect of RIS. A more accurate of estimating the barriers encountered by the diffusing species is required than the one used in our model, which has to depend on the saddle point environment. This study therefore shows thus the need to estimate point defect migration energies using the DFT approach to calibrate a model that can be used in the framework of atomic kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. We also found that the reproduction by our pair interaction model of DFT data for the self-interstitial atoms was found to be incompatible with the modelling of RIS under electron irradiation.