Discontinuous character of the damage build-up in the elastic collision regime

Abstract

Damage accumulation in irradiated solids reveals a complex character which contains essential information about the mechanisms governing the formation of defects and their transformations. A detailed discussion of the different types of damage build-up is presented, which clearly emphasizes the discontinuous character of the damage accumulation in the elastic collision regime. The paper discusses the advantages and drawbacks of existing models, compares them with experimental damage accumulation results and proposes an alternative description based on the discontinuous character of the damage build-ups.