Molecular dynamics simulation of primary irradiation defect formation in Fe–10%Cr alloy

Abstract

Molecular dynamics simulations of displacement cascades in Fe and Fe–10%Cr have been performed for primary knock-on energies from 1 to 20 keV using two different Finnis–Sinclair style interatomic potentials. The different potentials were fit to describe the extremes of positive (attractive) and negative (repulsive) binding between substitutional Cr atoms and Fe self-interstitial atoms. As expected, the effect of Cr on the collisional stage of cascade evolution and on the number of point defects and point defect clusters produced is quite minimal. However, the quantity of mixed Fe–Cr dumbbells produced is sensitive to the choice of potential.