Formation of Interstitial Dislocation Loops by Irradiation in Alpha-Iron under Strain: A Molecular Dynamics Study

Mohammad Bany Salman,Mosab Jaser Banisalman,Mehmet Emin Kilic

doi:10.3390/cryst11030317

Mohammad Bany Salman, Mosab Jaser Banisalman + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst11030317

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Abstract

The present work reports the formation of an interstitial dislocation loop with a lower primary knock-on atom (PKA) energy in alpha-iron under strain conditions by the use of molecular dynamics simulation. The study was conducted using a PKA energy of 1~10 keV and hydro-static strain from −1.4 to 1.6%. The application of 1.6% hydrostatic strain results in the formation of ½<111> dislocation loop with a low PKA of 3 keV. This result was associated with a threshold displacement energy decrement when moving from compression to tension strain, which resulted in more Frenkel pairs initiated at peak time. Furthermore, many of the initiated defects were energetically favorable by 2 eV in the form of the interstitial dislocation loop rather than a mono defect.

Highlights

Due to their remarkable physical properties, iron-based materials have been used for several applications [1] and are considered to be the main structural materials for use in next-generation nuclear reactors [2], where materials are exposed to several sources of radiation damage
We provide an insight into the probability of interstitial dislocation loop formation under strain, justifying the relationship between Ed,avg value, and the number of Frenkel pairs (FPs)’s generated at relatively low primary knock-on atom (PKA) energies
We aim to evaluate the interstitial dislocation loop formation under strain effects

Summary

Introduction

Due to their remarkable physical properties, iron-based materials (ferritic phase) have been used for several applications [1] and are considered to be the main structural materials for use in next-generation nuclear reactors [2], where materials are exposed to several sources of radiation damage. The main sources of radiation coming from the energetic protons, neutrons, electrons, and ions that are likely to transfer energy to the primary knock-on atom (PKA) and initiates collision cascade events. One of the consequences of the collision cascade event is the produced defects that may accumulate to form voids, dislocations, and other clusters, causing rapid material deterioration [15,16]. Among the produced dislocation defects is the interstitial dislocation loop [16,17], which was observed at relatively high irradiation energies using transmission electron microscopy [18,19,20]. Interstitial dislocation loops can be classified into two types: and 12 Burgers vector, and 12

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