About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2026 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Vacancy Engineering in Metals and Alloys
|
| Presentation Title |
Investigating nanocavity formation kinetics in irradiated materials through elemental segregation |
| Author(s) |
Xing Wang, Xingyu Liu, Xinyuan Xu |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Xing Wang |
| Abstract Scope |
Energetic particles such as neutrons and ions can generate numerous Frenkel pairs in nuclear materials. Vacancy clustering often leads to the formation of cavities, including voids and gas-filled bubbles, which are key contributors to material swelling. Studying elemental segregation offers valuable insights into the kinetics of cavity formation in alloys. Here we present a case study using ferritic-martensitic (FM) steels. While chromium enrichment is evident at grain boundaries, no such enrichment is observed near nanoscale cavities by either transmission electron microscopy or atom probe tomography. This contrast suggests that chromium enrichment is mainly driven by interstitial-mediated diffusion, which plays a negligible role in nanocavity growth. Additionally, FM steels with higher nickel and silicon contents exhibit slower cavity growth rates and stronger clustering of these elements. Density functional theory calculations confirmed strong binding between vacancies and nickel-silicon clusters, which likely reduces the vacancy flux toward cavities and thus suppressing cavity growth. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Characterization, Nuclear Materials, Iron and Steel |