Molecular dynamics studies and irradiation effects in ODSS alloys

Abstract

Radiation Damage (RD) studies on structural materials provide a way to understand a material's behaviour in a NPP. Oxide Dispersed Strengthened Steel (ODSS) alloys have been considered as one of the promising candidate materials in fast nuclear fission and fusion reactors. There are multiple mechanisms responsible for the microstructural changes instigating substantial alterations in the macroscopic properties of the material as well. Currently, various experimental and simulation studies on RD in ODSS alloys are being carried out owing to their radiation resistant property under different irradiation conditions. Owing to varying experimental approaches, the interpretations are usually incoherent. Simulating irradiation effect through Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations offers necessary insight into the production of primary damage defects and microstructural evolution. MD simulations can reveal atomistic details of some hidden phenomena and their mechanistic understanding associated with ODSS alloys, such as: damage cascades, defects interface interactions and radiation stability at elevated temperature. Thus, it is highly desirable to understand the aforementioned phenomena through atomistic simulation techniques, although one simulation technique is not enough to cover ranges of RD. Hence, this paper reviews recent studies performed through MD simulations and irradiation effects in ODSS alloys.