Superior radiation-resistant nanoengineered austenitic 304L stainless steel for applications in extreme radiation environments

Sun, C.; Zheng, S.; Wei, C. C.; Wu, Y.; Shao, L.; Yang, Y.; Hartwig, K. T.; Maloy, S. A.; Zinkle, S. J.; Allen, T. R.; Wang, H.; Zhang, X.

doi:10.1038/srep07801

Superior radiation-resistant nanoengineered austenitic 304L stainless steel for applications in extreme radiation environments

Journal Article · Thu Jan 15 00:00:00 EST 2015 · Scientific Reports

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/srep07801· OSTI ID:1193789

Sun, C. ^[1]; Zheng, S. ^[2]; Wei, C. C. ^[3]; Wu, Y. ^[4]; Shao, L. ^[3]; Yang, Y. ^[4]; Hartwig, K. T. ^[3]; Maloy, S. A. ^[2]; Zinkle, S. J. ^[5]; Allen, T. R. ^[6]; Wang, H. ^[3]; Zhang, X. ^[3]

Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States); Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States)
Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States)
Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)

Nuclear energy provides more than 10% of electrical power internationally, and the increasing engagement of nuclear energy is essential to meet the rapid worldwide increase in energy demand. A paramount challenge in the development of advanced nuclear reactors is the discovery of advanced structural materials that can endure extreme environments, such as severe neutron irradiation damage at high temperatures. It has been known for decades that high dose radiation can introduce significant void swelling accompanied by precipitation in austenitic stainless steel (SS). Here we report, however, that through nanoengineering, ultra-fine grained (UFG) 304L SS with an average grain size of ~100 nm, can withstand Fe ion irradiation at 500°C to 80 displacements-per-atom (dpa) with moderate grain coarsening. Compared to coarse grained (CG) counterparts, swelling resistance of UFG SS is improved by nearly an order of magnitude and swelling rate is reduced by a factor of 5. M₂₃C₆ precipitates, abundant in irradiated CG SS, are largely absent in UFG SS. This study provides a nanoengineering approach to design and discover radiation tolerant metallic materials for applications in extreme radiation environments.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: NSF-DMR-Metallic Materials and Nanostructures Program; USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC07-05ID14517

OSTI ID:: 1193789

Journal Information:: Scientific Reports, Journal Name: Scientific Reports Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 5; ISSN 2045-2322

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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