A combined APT and SANS investigation of α' phase precipitation in neutron-irradiated model FeCrAl alloys

Briggs, Samuel A.; Edmondson, Philip D.; Littrell, Kenneth C.; Yamamoto, Yukinori; Howard, Richard H.; Daily, Charles R.; Terrani, Kurt A.; Sridharan, Kumar; Field, Kevin G.

doi:10.1016/j.actamat.2017.02.077

Title: A combined APT and SANS investigation of α' phase precipitation in neutron-irradiated model FeCrAl alloys

Journal Article · Wed Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 2017 · Acta Materialia

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2017.02.077· OSTI ID:1350922

^[1]; Edmondson, Philip D. ^[2]; Littrell, Kenneth C. ^[2]; Yamamoto, Yukinori ^[2]; Howard, Richard H. ^[2]; Daily, Charles R. ^[2]; Terrani, Kurt A. ^[2]; Sridharan, Kumar ^[1];

^[2]

Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Here, FeCrAl alloys are currently under consideration for accident-tolerant fuel cladding applications in light water reactors owing to their superior high-temperature oxidation and corrosion resistance compared to the Zr-based alloys currently employed. However, their performance could be limited by precipitation of a Cr-rich α' phase that tends to embrittle high-Cr ferritic Fe-based alloys. In this study, four FeCrAl model alloys with 10–18 at.% Cr and 5.8–9.3 at.% Al were neutron-irradiated to nominal damage doses up to 7.0 displacements per atom at a target temperature of 320 °C. Small angle neutron scattering techniques were coupled with atom probe tomography to assess the composition and morphology of the resulting α' precipitates. It was demonstrated that Al additions partially destabilize the α' phase, generally resulting in precipitates with lower Cr contents when compared with binary Fe-Cr systems. The precipitate morphology evolution with dose exhibited a transient coarsening regime akin to previously observed behavior in aged Fe-Cr alloys. Similar behavior to predictions of the LSW/UOKV models suggests that α' precipitation in irradiated FeCrAl is a diffusion-limited process with coarsening mechanisms similar to those in thermally aged high-Cr ferritic alloys.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

View Accepted Manuscript (Publisher)

Cite

Export

Save

Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Nuclear Science User Facility (NSUF)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725; AC07-051D14517

OSTI ID:: 1350922

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1397851

Journal Information:: Acta Materialia, Vol. 129, Issue C; ISSN 1359-6454

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Citation Metrics:

Cited by: 96 works

Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (63)

High temperature oxidation of fuel cladding candidate materials in steam–hydrogen environments Pint, B. A.; Terrani, K. A.; Brady, M. P. Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 440, Issue 1-3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2013.05.047	journal	September 2013
Materials challenges in nuclear energy Zinkle, S. J.; Was, G. S. Acta Materialia, Vol. 61, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2012.11.004	journal	February 2013
Designing Radiation Resistance in Materials for Fusion Energy Zinkle, S. J.; Snead, L. L. Annual Review of Materials Research, Vol. 44, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-matsci-070813-113627	journal	July 2014
Scoping assessments of ATF impact on late-stage accident progression including molten core–concrete interaction Farmer, M. T.; Leibowitz, L.; Terrani, K. A. Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 448, Issue 1-3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2013.12.022	journal	May 2014
Uniform corrosion of FeCrAl alloys in LWR coolant environments Terrani, K. A.; Pint, B. A.; Kim, Y. -J. Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 479 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2016.06.047	journal	October 2016
Development and property evaluation of nuclear grade wrought FeCrAl fuel cladding for light water reactors Yamamoto, Y.; Pint, B. A.; Terrani, K. A. Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 467 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2015.10.019	journal	December 2015
Microstructural stability of Fe–Cr–Al alloys at 450–550 °C Ejenstam, Jesper; Thuvander, Mattias; Olsson, Pär Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 457 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2014.11.101	journal	February 2015
Mechanical properties of neutron-irradiated model and commercial FeCrAl alloys Field, Kevin G.; Briggs, Samuel A.; Sridharan, Kumar Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 489 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2017.03.038	journal	June 2017
Deformation behavior of laser welds in high temperature oxidation resistant Fe–Cr–Al alloys for fuel cladding applications Field, Kevin G.; Gussev, Maxim N.; Yamamoto, Yukinori Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 454, Issue 1-3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2014.08.013	journal	November 2014
Void-swelling in irons and ferritic steels Little, E. A. Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 87, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-3115(79)90122-3	journal	November 1979
Void-swelling in irons and ferritic steels Little, E. A.; Stow, D. A. Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 87, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-3115(79)90123-5	journal	November 1979
Dislocation loops and bubbles in oxide dispersion strengthened ferritic steel after helium implantation under stress Chen, J.; Jung, P.; Hoffelner, W. Acta Materialia, Vol. 56, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2007.09.016	journal	January 2008
Radiation tolerance of neutron-irradiated model Fe–Cr–Al alloys Field, Kevin G.; Hu, Xunxiang; Littrell, Kenneth C. Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 465 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2015.06.023	journal	October 2015
Irradiation-enhanced α′ precipitation in model FeCrAl alloys Edmondson, P. D.; Briggs, S. A. Scripta Materialia, Vol. 116 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2016.02.002	journal	April 2016
Neutronic analysis of candidate accident-tolerant cladding concepts in pressurized water reactors George, Nathan Michael; Terrani, Kurt; Powers, Jeff Annals of Nuclear Energy, Vol. 75 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2014.09.005	journal	January 2015
Screening of advanced cladding materials and UN–U3Si5 fuel Brown, Nicholas R.; Todosow, Michael; Cuadra, Arantxa Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 462 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2015.03.016	journal	July 2015
On the α–α′ miscibility gap of Fe–Cr alloys Bonny, G.; Terentyev, D.; Malerba, L. Scripta Materialia, Vol. 59, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2008.08.008	journal	December 2008
Neutron small-angle scattering study of unmixing in FeCr alloys Bley, F. Acta Metallurgica et Materialia, Vol. 40, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1016/0956-7151(92)90094-U	journal	July 1992
α′ precipitation in neutron-irradiated Fe–Cr alloys Bachhav, Mukesh; Robert Odette, G.; Marquis, Emmanuelle A. Scripta Materialia, Vol. 74 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2013.10.001	journal	March 2014
A SANS investigation of the irradiation-enhanced α–α′ phases separation in 7–12 Cr martensitic steels Mathon, M. H.; de Carlan, Y.; Geoffroy, G. Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 312, Issue 2-3 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-3115(02)01630-6	journal	February 2003
Atomic scale analysis and phase separation understanding in a thermally aged Fe–20at.%Cr alloy Novy, S.; Pareige, P.; Pareige, C. Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 384, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2008.10.008	journal	February 2009
Kinetics of α′ precipitation in an electron-irradiated Fe15Cr alloy Tissot, O.; Pareige, C.; Meslin, E. Scripta Materialia, Vol. 122 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2016.05.021	journal	September 2016
Cr precipitation in neutron irradiated industrial purity Fe–Cr model alloys Kuksenko, V.; Pareige, C.; Pareige, P. Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 432, Issue 1-3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2012.07.021	journal	January 2013
Microstructural evolution of Fe 22%Cr model alloy under thermal ageing and ion irradiation conditions studied by atom probe tomography Korchuganova, Olesya A.; Thuvander, Mattias; Aleev, Andrey A. Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 477 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2016.05.007	journal	August 2016
Estimation of the solubility limit of Cr in Fe at 300°C from small-angle neutron scattering in neutron-irradiated Fe–Cr alloys Bergner, F.; Ulbricht, A.; Heintze, C. Scripta Materialia, Vol. 61, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2009.08.028	journal	December 2009
Atom probe study of irradiation-enhanced α′ precipitation in neutron-irradiated Fe–Cr model alloys Chen, Wei-Ying; Miao, Yinbin; Wu, Yaqiao Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 462 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2015.04.005	journal	July 2015
Mapping of 475°C embrittlement in ferritic Fe–Cr–Al alloys Kobayashi, Satoru; Takasugi, Takayuki Scripta Materialia, Vol. 63, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2010.08.015	journal	November 2010
Phase separation in PM 2000™ Fe-base ODS alloy: Experimental study at the atomic level Capdevila, C.; Miller, M. K.; Russell, K. F. Materials Science and Engineering: A, Vol. 490, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2008.01.029	journal	August 2008
Aluminum partitioning during phase separation in Fe–20%Cr–6%Al ODS alloy Capdevila, C.; Miller, M. K.; Russell, K. F. Journal of Materials Science, Vol. 43, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-007-2228-z	journal	June 2008
Phase separation kinetics in a Fe–Cr–Al alloy Capdevila, C.; Miller, M. K.; Chao, J. Acta Materialia, Vol. 60, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2012.05.022	journal	July 2012
Experimental observations in support of the dynamic-segregation theory to explain the reactive-element effect Pint, B. A. Oxidation of Metals, Vol. 45, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01046818	journal	February 1996
Method for analyzing passive silicon carbide thermometry with a continuous dilatometer to determine irradiation temperature Campbell, Anne A.; Porter, Wallace D.; Katoh, Yutai Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, Vol. 370 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2016.01.005	journal	March 2016
Atom probe specimen preparation with a dual beam SEM/FIB miller Miller, M. K.; Russell, K. F. Ultramicroscopy, Vol. 107, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultramic.2007.02.023	journal	September 2007
LAMDA: Irradiated-Materials Microscopy at Oak Ridge National Laboratory Parish, Chad M.; Kiran Kumar, N. A. P.; Snead, Lance L. Microscopy and Microanalysis, Vol. 21, Issue S3 https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927615005814	journal	August 2015
A procedure for quantification of precipitate microstructures from three-dimensional atom probe data Vaumousse, D.; Cerezo, A.; Warren, P. J. Ultramicroscopy, Vol. 95 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3991(02)00319-4	journal	May 2003
Aspects of the observation of clusters in the 3-dimensional atom probe Cerezo, A.; Davin, L. Surface and Interface Analysis, Vol. 39, Issue 2-3 https://doi.org/10.1002/sia.2486	journal	January 2007
New Techniques for the Analysis of Fine-Scaled Clustering Phenomena within Atom Probe Tomography (APT) Data Stephenson, Leigh T.; Moody, Michael P.; Liddicoat, Peter V. Microscopy and Microanalysis, Vol. 13, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927607070900	journal	November 2007
Applications of atom-probe tomography to the characterisation of solute behaviours Marquis, Emmanuelle A.; Hyde, Jonathan M. Materials Science and Engineering: R: Reports, Vol. 69, Issue 4-5 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mser.2010.05.001	journal	July 2010
Quantitative atom probe tomography characterization of microstructures in a proton irradiated 304 stainless steel Chen, Yimeng; Chou, Peter H.; Marquis, Emmanuelle A. Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 451, Issue 1-3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2014.03.034	journal	August 2014
Comparison of Compositional and Morphological Atom-Probe Tomography Analyses for a Multicomponent Fe-Cu Steel Kolli, R. Prakash; Seidman, David N. Microscopy and Microanalysis, Vol. 13, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927607070675	journal	July 2007
Orientation relationships and interface structure of α′-Cr nanoclusters embedded in α-Fe matrix after α–α′ demixing in neutron irradiated Oxide Dispersion Strengthened material Ribis, J.; Lozano-Perez, S. Materials Letters, Vol. 74 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2012.01.115	journal	May 2012
The 40 m general purpose small-angle neutron scattering instrument at Oak Ridge National Laboratory Wignall, George D.; Littrell, Kenneth C.; Heller, William T. Journal of Applied Crystallography, Vol. 45, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1107/S0021889812027057	journal	August 2012
Analysis of Three-dimensional Atom-probe Data by the Proximity Histogram Hellman, Olof C.; Vandenbroucke, Justin A.; Rüsing, Järg Microscopy and Microanalysis, Vol. 6, Issue 05 https://doi.org/10.1007/S100050010051	journal	September 2000
Influence of recrystallization on phase separation kinetics of oxide dispersion strengthened Fe–Cr–Al alloy Capdevila, C.; Miller, M. K.; Pimentel, G. Scripta Materialia, Vol. 66, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2011.11.003	journal	March 2012
New computational method in the theory of spinodal decomposition Langer, J. S.; Bar-on, M.; Miller, Harold D. Physical Review A, Vol. 11, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.11.1417	journal	April 1975
SANS investigation of a neutron-irradiated Fe–9at%Cr alloy Ulbricht, A.; Heintze, C.; Bergner, F. Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 407, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2010.07.005	journal	December 2010
SANS investigation of microstructure evolution in high chromium ODS steels after thermal ageing Száraz, Z.; Török, Gy.; Kršjak, V. Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 435, Issue 1-3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2012.12.016	journal	April 2013
Analysis of small-angle scattering data from colloids and polymer solutions: modeling and least-squares fitting Pedersen, Jan Skov Advances in Colloid and Interface Science, Vol. 70 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0001-8686(97)00312-6	journal	July 1997
Determination of size distribution from small-angle scattering data for systems with effective hard-sphere interactions Pedersen, J. S. Journal of Applied Crystallography, Vol. 27, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1107/S0021889893013810	journal	August 1994
Small-angle scattering from precipitates: Analysis by use of a polydisperse hard-sphere model Pedersen, Jan Skov Physical Review B, Vol. 47, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.47.657	journal	January 1993
Small-angle scattering from a commercial Al-Li alloy Triolo, Roerto; Caponetti, Euenio; Spooner, Stphen Philosophical Magazine A, Vol. 60, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1080/01418618908213869	journal	October 1989
Characterization of neutron-irradiated ferritic model alloys and a RPV steel from combined APT, SANS, TEM and PAS analyses Meslin, E.; Lambrecht, M.; Hernández-Mayoral, M. Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 406, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2009.12.021	journal	November 2010
Uncertainties and assumptions associated with APT and SANS characterisation of irradiation damage in RPV steels Hyde, J. M.; Burke, M. G.; Smith, G. D. W. Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 449, Issue 1-3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2013.07.029	journal	June 2014
Atom probe tomography of reactor pressure vessel steels: An analysis of data integrity Hyde, J. M.; Burke, M. G.; Gault, B. Ultramicroscopy, Vol. 111, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultramic.2010.12.033	journal	May 2011
Microstructural changes in a neutron-irradiated Fe–15 at.%Cr alloy Bachhav, Mukesh; Robert Odette, G.; Marquis, Emmanuelle A. Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 454, Issue 1-3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2014.08.026	journal	November 2014
Microstructural changes in a neutron-irradiated Fe–6 at.%Cr alloy Bachhav, Mukesh; Yao, Lan; Robert Odette, G. Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 453, Issue 1-3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2014.06.050	journal	October 2014
Microstructural evolution of ferritic-martensitic steels irradiated in the fast breeder reactor Phénix Dubuisson, P.; Gilbon, D.; Séran, J. L. Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 205 https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-3115(93)90080-I	journal	October 1993
Work-hardening and work-softening of face-centred cubic metal crystals Seeger, A.; Diehl, J.; Mader, S. Philosophical Magazine, Vol. 2, Issue 15 https://doi.org/10.1080/14786435708243823	journal	March 1957
The relationship between hardness and yield stress in irradiated austenitic and ferritic steels Busby, Jeremy T.; Hash, Mark C.; Was, Gary S. Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 336, Issue 2-3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2004.09.024	journal	February 2005
Ostwald ripening in multicomponent alloys Umantsev, A.; Olson, G. B. Scripta Metallurgica et Materialia, Vol. 29, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1016/0956-716X(93)90191-T	journal	October 1993
Ostwald ripening in ternary alloys Kuehmann, C. J.; Voorhees, P. W. Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, Vol. 27, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02649761	journal	April 1996
The kinetics of precipitation from supersaturated solid solutions Lifshitz, I. M.; Slyozov, V. V. Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids, Vol. 19, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-3697(61)90054-3	journal	April 1961
Modelling the overlap of nucleation, growth and coarsening during precipitation Robson, J. D. Acta Materialia, Vol. 52, Issue 15 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2004.06.024	journal	September 2004

Cited By (5)

Quantitative Phase-Field Simulation of Composition Partition and Separation Kinetics of Nanoscale Phase in Fe-Cr-Al Alloy Chen, Shi; Li, Yongsheng; Shi, Shujing Journal of Nanomaterials, Vol. 2019 https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/6862390	journal	May 2019
Review of the Quench Sensitivity of Aluminium Alloys: Analysis of the Kinetics and Nature of Quench-Induced Precipitation Milkereit, Benjamin; Starink, Marco J.; Rometsch, Paul A. Materials, Vol. 12, Issue 24 https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12244083	journal	December 2019
α′ formation kinetics and radiation induced segregation in neutron irradiated 14YWT nanostructured ferritic alloys Aydogan, E.; Martinez, E.; March, K. Scientific Reports, Vol. 9, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-44508-5	journal	June 2019
Magnetic small-angle neutron scattering Mühlbauer, Sebastian; Honecker, Dirk; Périgo, Élio A. Reviews of Modern Physics, Vol. 91, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1103/revmodphys.91.015004	journal	March 2019
The Effect of a Two-Stage Heat-Treatment on the Microstructural and Mechanical Properties of a Maraging Steel. Simm, Thomas Hadfield; Sun, Lin; Galvin, Deri Rhys Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository https://doi.org/10.17863/cam.38136	text	January 2017

Similar Records

Irradiation-enhanced α' precipitation in model FeCrAl alloys

Journal Article · Wed Feb 17 00:00:00 EST 2016 · Scripta Materialia · OSTI ID:1350922

Edmondson, Philip D.; Briggs, Samuel A.; Yamamoto, Yukinori; +4 more

Evaluation on the Effect of Composition on Radiation Hardening and Embrittlement in Model FeCrAl Alloys

Technical Report · Fri Sep 18 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · OSTI ID:1350922

Field, Kevin G.; Briggs, Samuel A.; Edmondson, Philip; +5 more

Deconvoluting the Effect of Chromium and Aluminum on the Radiation Response of Wrought FeCrAl Alloys After Low-Dose Neutron Irradiation

Journal Article · Sun Feb 21 00:00:00 EST 2021 · Journal of Nuclear Materials · OSTI ID:1350922

Massey, Caleb P.; Zhang, Dalong; Briggs, Samuel A.; +4 more

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
irradiated metals
precipitation
atom probe tomography (APT)
neutron diffraction
ferritic steels

Title: A combined APT and SANS investigation of α' phase precipitation in neutron-irradiated model FeCrAl alloys

Citation Formats

References (63)

Cited By (5)

Similar Records

Related Subjects