Comparison of the relative importance of helium and vacancy accumulation in void nucleation

Conference · Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 1986

OSTI ID:5144835

Stoller, R E; Odette, G R

Void nucleation in irradiated austenitic stainless steels generally requires the presence of either residual or transmutant gases. Classical nucleation rates are much too low to account for the number of voids observed at temperatures greater than about 450/sup 0/C. An alternate path is generally believed to be responsible for void formation; viz. the growth of gas-stabilized bubbles until they reach a critical size beyond which further gas accumulation is not required to promote growth. Two limiting paths can be envisioned for void nucleation on a population of sub-critical helium/vacancy clusters; one is limited to growth by helium accumulation along and the other to growth by stochastic fluctuations in the vacancy accumulation. As bubbles approach the critical size, stochastic processes could begin to contribute to the void nucleation rate. A comparison is made of nucleation rates along these two limiting paths as a function of the gas content of the clusters.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA). Metals and Ceramics Div.; California Univ., Santa Barbara (USA). Dept. of Chemical and Nuclear Engineering
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 5144835
• Report Number(s): CONF-860605-29; ON: DE87000230
• Resource Relation: Conference: 13. international symposium on the effects of radiation on materials, Seattle, WA, USA, 23 Jun 1986; Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
AUSTENITIC STEELS
VOIDS
STAINLESS STEELS
BUBBLES
HELIUM
IRRADIATION
SWELLING
ALLOYS
CHROMIUM ALLOYS
CORROSION RESISTANT ALLOYS
ELEMENTS
FLUIDS
GASES
IRON ALLOYS
IRON BASE ALLOYS
NONMETALS
RARE GASES
STEELS
360106* - Metals & Alloys- Radiation Effects
700209 - Fusion Power Plant Technology- Component Development & Materials Testing