Computer simulation of radiation damage in Fe3Al

Abstract

Abstract A computer simulation of the ordered Fe3Al lattice was devised. This lattice array consisted of 559 atoms interacting with two-body forces. To simulate radiation damage, a selected atom was given a known kinetic energy in a predetermined direction. The damage threshold in the [100] direction was found to be 22 eV while in the [110] direction the threshold was 44 eV. Vacancies and interstitials were found to be the normal stable defects, the interstitial residing in the split configuration oriented in the [110] direction. Replacement chains were prevalent in the [100] and [110] directions. Focusons served as the primary mechanism for dissipating energy from the collision chains in the [110] and [111] directions. Along a defocusing chain the energy dissipation appears to resemble a thermal spike, while near the end of the chain, especially in the [111] direction, there is an extensive lattice expansion due to energy dissipation which appears to give a plasticity spike. Disordering in the ordered al...