Abstract
The effect of strain on the amount of point defects created in Fe and Cr carbide inclusions embedded in ferrite has been investigated. The spherical carbide inclusions consisted of either Fe3C or Cr23C6. Recoil energies from 100 eV to 3 keV and strains from −0.15 (compressive) to 0.01 (tensile) were used. The overall tendency is that the number of point defects — such as antisites, vacancy and interstitials — inside the carbide is lowered when the strain grows more negative (compressive). Outside the carbides, the number of defects is markedly higher for strongly compressive strains than for e.g. zero strain, especially at high energies.
Highlights
Cementite Fe3C and Cr23C6 are among the principal pure carbides that can occur in model stainless steels (Fe-Cr-C) based on ferrite (α-iron, body-centered cubic (BCC) crystal structure)
The effect of strain on the amount of point defects created in Fe and Cr carbide inclusions embedded in ferrite has been investigated
All molecular dynamics simulations were carried out using the code PARCAS9–12 and bond-order type interatomic potentials for Fe-Cr-C taken from Ref. 6
Summary
Cementite Fe3C and Cr23C6 are among the principal pure carbides that can occur in model stainless steels (Fe-Cr-C) based on ferrite (α-iron, body-centered cubic (BCC) crystal structure) (see e.g. Ref. 1). Martensitic/ferritic stainless steels can be used as construction materials in nuclear applications, where they are subjected to e.g. neutron irradiation Atoms knocked from their lattice sites by energetic neutrons create cascades in the material, leading to the formation of defects. In a metal containing carbide inclusions, there are three distinct regions where point defects can be created: (i) inside the carbide, (ii) at the interface between carbide and metal, and (iii) in the host metal. One way to manipulate the carbides would be to subject them to a non-zero strain. This is explored in a computational study.
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