| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
MS&T21: Materials Science & Technology
|
| Symposium
|
Advanced Characterization of Materials for Nuclear, Radiation, and Extreme Environments
|
| Presentation Title |
Revealing Hidden Defects via Stored Energy Measurements of Radiation Damage |
| Author(s) |
Charles A. Hirst, Fredric Granberg, Penghui Cao, Scott Middlemas, R. Scott Kemp, Ju Li, Kai Nordlund, Michael Short |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Charles A. Hirst |
| Abstract Scope |
With full knowledge of a material’s structure, it is possible to predict any macroscopic property of interest. In practice, this is hindered by limitations of the characterization techniques used. Instead of spatial characterization, we propose to detect defects through their excess energy. We demonstrate this concept using experimental and simulated defect annealing of neutron-irradiated Ti. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements reveal two energetically-distinct processes during stage V annealing, where the established recovery model predicts only one. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations reveal the defects responsible, and show that the point defect-induced glide of dislocation loops contributes significantly to recovery. In comparison to prior literature, our experiments measure defect densities 4 times greater than those determined using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Accurately characterizing these ‘hidden’ defects is crucial to understanding damage and annealing mechanisms at higher length scales, and will significantly advance the field of nuclear materials science. |