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Title: Energetic driving force for preferential binding of self-interstitial atoms to Fe grain boundaries over vacancies

Journal Article · · Scripta Materialia, 6(9):908-911

Molecular dynamics simulations of 50 Fe grain boundaries were used to understand their interaction with vacancies and self-interstitial atoms at all atomic positions within 20 °A of the boundary, which is important for designing radiation-resistant polycrystalline materials. Site-to-site variation within the boundary of both vacancy and self-interstitial formation energies is substantial, with the majority of sites having lower formation energies than in the bulk. Comparing the vacancy and self-interstitial atom binding energies for each site shows that there is an energetic driving force for interstitials to preferentially bind to grain boundary sites over vacancies. Furthermore, these results provide a valuable dataset for quantifying uncertainty bounds for various grain boundary types at the nanoscale, which can be propagated to higher scale simulations of microstructure evolution.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1012290
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-76860; SCMAF7; AF5831060; TRN: US1102215
Journal Information:
Scripta Materialia, 6(9):908-911, Vol. 64, Issue 9; ISSN 1359-6462
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English