Modeling copper precipitation hardening and embrittlement in a dilute Fe-0.3at.%Cu alloy under neutron irradiation

Bai, Xian -Ming; Ke, Huibin; Zhang, Yongfeng; Spencer, Benjamin W.

doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2017.08.042

Modeling copper precipitation hardening and embrittlement in a dilute Fe-0.3at.%Cu alloy under neutron irradiation

Journal Article · Mon Sep 04 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Journal of Nuclear Materials

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2017.08.042· OSTI ID:1473963

Bai, Xian -Ming ^[1]; ^[2]; ^[3]; ^[3]

Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ. (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States); Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI (United States)
Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

The neutron irradiation in light water reactors can induce precipitation of nanometer sized Cu clusters in reactor pressure vessel steels. The Cu precipitates impede dislocation gliding, leading to increase of yield strength (hardening) and upward shift of ductile-to-brittle transition temperature (embrittlement). In this work, cluster dynamics modeling is used to model the entire Cu precipitation process (nucleation, growth, and coarsening) in a Fe-0.3at.%Cu alloy under neutron irradiation at 300 °C. The evolution of the Cu cluster number density and mean radius predicted by the modeling agrees well with experimental data reported in literature for the same alloy under the same irradiation conditions. The predicted precipitation kinetics are used as input for a dispersed barrier hardening model to correlate the microstructural evolution with the radiation hardening and embrittlement in this alloy. The predicted radiation hardening agrees well with the mechanical test results in literature. In conclusion, the limitation of the model and future improvement directions are also discussed in this work.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

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

Grant/Contract Number:: AC07-05ID14517

OSTI ID:: 1473963

Report Number(s):: INL/JOU-17-42045-Rev000

Journal Information:: Journal of Nuclear Materials, Journal Name: Journal of Nuclear Materials Journal Issue: C Vol. 495; ISSN 0022-3115

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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