Abstract Scope |
Chemical short-range order (CSRO), a form of nanoscale special atom arrangement, has been found to significantly alter material properties such as dislocation motion and defect dynamics in various alloys. Here, we use Fe-Ni-Cr alloys to demonstrate how CSRO affects defect properties and radiation behavior, based on extensive molecular dynamics simulations. Statistically significant results are obtained regarding radiation-induced defect propensity, defect clustering, and elemental mixing as a function of dose for three CSRO levels. The perfect random solution as an energetically unfavorable state shows the strongest tendency to enable diffusion, while increasing CSRO degree causes decreasing diffusion, decreasing defect recombination, increasing number of residual defects, and decreasing ion-mixing. In addition, in the high-CSRO scenario, interstitial clusters are Cr-rich and interstitial loops preferentially reside in/near the Cr-rich CSRO domains. These new understandings suggest the importance of incorporating the effect of CSRO in investigating radiation-driven microstructural evolution. |