Understanding the effect of minor alloying elements on helium bubble formation in ferritic-martensitic steels

Liu, Xingyu; Poplawsky, Jonathan D.; Wang, Yongqiang; Xu, Xinyuan; Chen, Xiang (Frank); Wang, Xing

doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2025.156045

Understanding the effect of minor alloying elements on helium bubble formation in ferritic-martensitic steels

Journal Article · Sun Jul 20 00:00:00 EDT 2025 · Journal of Nuclear Materials

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2025.156045· OSTI ID:2572941

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Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS)
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Ferritic-martensitic steels are promising structural materials for advanced nuclear reactors. To minimize long-term radioactivity, reduced-activation ferritic-martensitic steels have been developed by substituting high-activation elements like Ni and Mo with low-activation elements such as W. However, the impact of these alloying modifications on helium bubble formation, which plays a key role in material swelling, remains unclear. Here, in this study, we compared helium bubble formation in ferritic-martensitic steel T91 and reduced-activation ferritic-martensitic steel F82H. Both materials were irradiated with sequential 100 keV, 150 keV, and 200 keV helium ions to a dose of 0.5 dpa and a helium concentration of 9,000 appm at 500°C. The helium bubbles in F82H exhibited a larger average size and a lower density than those in T91, suggesting differences in minor alloying elements may influence the bubble growth. Here, to investigate the effects of these alloying elements, we characterized radiation-induced segregation near bubbles and grain boundaries. Prominent Ni-Mn-Si enriched clusters were found near bubbles in T91, while only Mn-Si enriched clusters were found near bubbles in F82H. In addition, the obvious Cr enrichment near grain boundaries was absent around bubbles in both steels. The different segregation trends among elements revealed the variations in element diffusion mechanisms and the different sink biases between bubbles and grain boundaries. Cr enrichment near grain boundaries is mostly driven by interstitial-mediated diffusion. However, since bubble growth relies on net vacancy flux, vacancy-mediated diffusion plays a dominant role in controlling element segregation near bubbles. Therefore, Cr enrichment was not found near bubbles. Because of preferential vacancy-drag diffusion for Ni, Si and Mn, these elements were enriched near bubbles. Due to the strong binding energies of vacancies with these solute atoms, the vacancy diffusivity can be reduced near these solutes. Therefore, the more prominent Ni-Si-Mn clustered near helium bubbles in T91 lead to stronger suppression of helium bubble growth compared to F82H.

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Research Organization:: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Fusion Energy Sciences (FES); USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF)

Grant/Contract Number:: NE0009426; AC05-00OR22725; 89233218CNA000001

OSTI ID:: 2572941

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 2575307

Report Number(s):: LA-UR--25-22291; 10.1016/j.jnucmat.2025.156045

Journal Information:: Journal of Nuclear Materials, Journal Name: Journal of Nuclear Materials Vol. 616; ISSN 0022-3115

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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