Abstract
In recent years, the problem of void swelling has been treated
within the framework of production bias model (PBM). The model
considers the intracascade clustering of vacancies and
self-interstitial atoms (SIAs), their thermal stability and the
resulting asymmetry in the production of free and mobile vacancies
and SIAs. The model also considers the influence of
one-dimensional diffusional transport of glissile clusters of SIAs
on damage accumulation in the form of voids and defect
clusters.One of the major predictions of the PBM is that at a
given irradiation temperature and damage rate, the void swelling
should sensitively depend on the recoil energy since it affects
strongly the intracascade clustering of SIAs and vacancies,
particularly at lower recoil energies. In order to test the
validity of this prediction directly by experiments, pure and
annealed copper specimens were irradiated with 2.5 MeV electrons,
3 MeV protons and fission neutrons at about 520K. All three sets
of irradiation experiments were carried out with a similar damage
rate (of the order of 10-8 NRT dpa/s). Post-irradiation defect
microstructures were investigated using electrical resistivity,
transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and positron annihilation
spectroscopy (PAS). The accumulation of defects in the form of
planar clusters as well as voids is found to increase
substantially with increasing recoil energy. This is in good
accord with the predictions of the PBM.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Philosophical Magazine B |
Publication status | Published - 2000 |