Abstract
An extensive investigation on the microstructural evolution of an amorphous-nanocrystalline alloy (ANA) under neutron irradiation has been conducted by molecular dynamics simulation. It was observed that irradiation-induced vacancies were quickly and fully annihilated in the nanocrystal zone, free zones in the amorphous matrix also recovered themselves completely after structural relaxation. Furthermore, the nanocrystal zone presented an effective self-healing behavior regardless of the intensity of collision cascades that caused it to be partially melted during quenching. Finally, the knocked-on atoms were arrested at the phase boundary, hence, the mechanism of atomic diffusion is non-existent at the nanocrystal grain and neighbouring amorphous zone interface. The ANA materials have been found to demonstrate excellent resistance to neutron irradiation. Hence, the results of this study, would potentially facilitate the development of advanced materials with high irradiation resistance.
Published Version
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