Irradiation Performance of Fe-Cr Base Alloys

Principal Investigator
Name:
James Stubbins
Email:
[email protected]
Phone:
(208) 526-6918
Team Members:
Name: Institution: Expertise: Status:
C. Deo Georgia Institute of Technology
Jose Caro General Electric
James Stubbins University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
Stu Maloy Los Alamos National Laboratory
Experiment Details:
Experiment Title:
Irradiation Performance of Fe-Cr Base Alloys)
Abstract
This proposal is a coordinated set of experiments with post-irradiation examination and analyses that will provide significant new insight into the irradiation performance of ferritic alloys for advanced reactor applications. The main objective of this research effort is to produce a set of irradiation conditions on FeCr alloys, ranging from model alloys to commercial and developmental alloys, which will provide the basis for materials and materials modeling development to assess radiation performance. The effort will develop a new level of understanding of the irradiation performance of this alloy system and serve as a mechanism to develop modeling capabilities to better predict future alloy performance and development.The ATR experiments will extend the current experimental and modeling activities so that irradiation behavior can be directly modeled and compared across a variety of irradiation systems. Experiments will be performed on model Fe and FeCr alloys, on mod 9Cr-1Mo and HT-9 commercial alloys, and on 3Cr-base and MA 957 developmental alloys. ATR experiments will be performed at 300, 450 and 550C to doses ranging from 0.01 displacement per atom (dpa) to 10 dpa.This research proposal is based on a number of ongoing studies within the research team which includes investigators at the University of Illinois, Georgia Tech, North Texas University, LANL, ANL, and General Electric Nuclear. The ongoing studies include modeling of nascent irradiation damage events using molecular dynamics (MD) approaches and kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) to follow point defect and cluster evolution. It also includes modeling of tensile property evolution using viscoplastic self-consistent (VPSC) polycrystal approach to understand the tensile, and possibly fracture behavior, of model alloys and commercial alloy systems as a function of irradiation dose, which can be further coupled to finite element analysis of deformation and structural loads.The experimental program is based on current irradiation damage and tensile property experiments. The irradiation experiments employ ion beams to induce irradiation damage to several dpa at irradiation temperatures up to 550C. Post irradiation analysis of these specimens is being carried out with transmission electron microscopy (TEM), positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS), x-ray spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and other techniques. All of these techniques will be employed in the current program.The mechanical properties work employs miniature tensile techniques to follow the irradiation induced hardening properties of these alloys. Unique in our work is the use of the Advanced Photon Source (APS) to follow the tensile deformation stages during tensile loading to help understand flow localization processes. In addition, compact tension (CT) specimens will be used to characterize fracture toughness properties.This research project will accomplish the following: (1) tie together a number of ongoing, related irradiations in the FeCr system, (2) provide a major new basis for materials modeling for irradiation performance ranging from very basic (MD) to very applied levels (VPSC-FEM) and (3) provide a well coordinated set of irradiation performance data which range from model to commercial and developmental alloy systems.
Book / Journal Publications

"Neutron irradiation effects in Fe and Fe-Cr at 300°C" WEIYING CHEN, Yinbin Miao, Jian Gan, Maria Okuniewski, Stuart Maloy, James Stubbins, Acta Materialia 111 2016 407-416 Link

"Kinetics of the Migration and Clustering of Extrinsic Gas in bcc Metals" Maria Okuniewski, James Stubbins, Chaitanya Deo, Srinivasan Srivilliputhur, Michael Baskes, Stuart Maloy, M. R. James, ASTM Special Technical Publication 1492 2008 177-189 Link

"Atom probe study of irradiation-enhanced a' precipitation in neutron-irradiated Fe–Cr model alloys" WEIYING CHEN, Jian Gan, Stuart Maloy, Kun Mo, Maria Okuniewski, James Stubbins, Yinbin Miao, Yaqiao Wu, Carolyn Tomchik, Journal of Nuclear Materials 462 2015 242-249 Link

"Temperature and particle size effects on flow localization of 9-12%Cr ferritic/martensitic steel by in situ X-ray diffraction and small angle scattering" Kun Mo, James Stubbins, Xiao Pan, Xianglin Wu, Xiang Chen, Jonathan Almer, Dean Haeffner, Journal of Nuclear Materials 398 2010 220-226 Link

"High energy X-ray diffraction study of the relationship between the macroscopic mechanical properties and microstructure of irradiated HT-9 steel" Osman Anderoglu, Bjorn Clausen, James Stubbins, Journal of Nuclear Materials 475 2016 46-56 Link

"In situ high-energy X-ray diffraction study of tensile deformation of neutron-irradiated polycrystalline Fe-9%Cr alloy" Meimei Li, James Stubbins, Chi Xu, Xuan Zhang, Jun-Sang Park, Peter Kenesei, Jonathan Almer, Acta Materialia 126 2017 67-76 Link

"Lattice strain and damage evolution of 9-12%Cr ferritic/martensitic steel during in situ tensile test by X-ray diffraction and small angle scattering" Kun Mo, James Stubbins, Xiao Pan, Xianglin Wu, Xiang Chen, Jonathan Almer, Jan Ilavsky, Dean Haeffner, Journal of Nuclear Materials 407 2010 10-15 Link

"Early-stage microstructural evolution and phase stability in neutron-irradiated ferritic-martensitic steel T91" Huan Yan, Xiang Liu, Lingfeng He, James Stubbins, Journal of Nuclear Materials 557 2021 Link

"Phase stability and microstructural evolution in neutron-irradiated ferritic-martensitic steel HT9" Huan Yan, Xiang Liu, James Stubbins, Journal of Nuclear Materials 557 2021 Link