Multiscale characterization of irradiation behaviour of ion-irradiated SiC/SiC composites

Agarwal, Shradha; Duscher, Gerd J M; Zhao, Yajie; Crespillo, Miguel L.; Katoh, Yutai; Weber, William J.

doi:10.1016/j.actamat.2018.09.012

Multiscale characterization of irradiation behaviour of ion-irradiated SiC/SiC composites

Journal Article · Tue Sep 11 00:00:00 EDT 2018 · Acta Materialia

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2018.09.012· OSTI ID:1474616

Agarwal, Shradha ^[1]; Duscher, Gerd J M ^[1]; Zhao, Yajie ^[1]; Crespillo, Miguel L. ^[1]; ^[2]; ^[3]

Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Materials Science and Technology Division
Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Department of Materials Science and Engineering; Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Materials Science and Technology Division

Here, the irradiation tolerance of SiC/SiC composites was studied using 10 MeV Au ion irradiations at 350 °C, for surface doses between 1 and 50 displacements per atom (dpa). Atomic force microscopy and optical profilometry revealed irradiation-induced axial and radial shrinkage of SiC-fibers. At 50 dpa, net fiber shrinkage reached 2.8 ± 0.3%. We conclude that the primary cause of SiC-fiber shrinkage in SiC/SiC composites is the irradiation-induced loss of pre-existing carbon packets, which had occupied 2–3% fiber volume in unirradiated state. A compelling evidence of the carbon packet loss was revealed using a combination of state-of-art conventional transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high resolution TEM, energy-filtered TEM and electron energy loss spectroscopy. Additionally, the carbon packet volume fraction decreased with increasing dose, reaching near-complete loss after 50 dpa. Carbon packet loss was further confirmed using Raman spectroscopy where the carbon D and G peaks disappeared after irradiation. In contrast, irradiation-induced swelling of 1 ± 0.5% was observed in the matrix after 50 dpa. The study also shows that up to 50 dpa, the multilayer pyrolytic-carbon (PyC) interface in the composite is highly irradiation tolerant as it maintained its morphology, graphitic nature and showed no signs of amorphization. Additionally, Raman spectroscopy revealed a saturation of TEM invisible disorder at 1 dpa for both ultra-fine grains of the fiber and the larger SiC-matrix grains. However, TEM visible extended defect formation such as dislocation loops were only detected in the larger matrix grains, thereby revealing a potential role of grain size on defect accumulation in SiC.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

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

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725; NE0008577

OSTI ID:: 1474616

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1636946
OSTI ID: 22744880

Journal Information:: Acta Materialia, Journal Name: Acta Materialia Journal Issue: C Vol. 161; ISSN 1359-6454

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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