Effect of irradiation on mechanical properties of symmetrical grain boundaries investigated by atomic simulations

XY Wang and N Gao and W Setyawan and B Xu and W Liu and ZG Wang, JOURNAL OF NUCLEAR MATERIALS, 491, 154-161 (2017).

DOI: 10.1016/j.jnucmat.2017.04.051

Tensile response of irradiated symmetric grain boundaries to the externally applied strain has been studied using atomic simulation methods. The absorption of irradiation induced defects by grain boundaries has been confirmed to degrade the mechanical properties of grain boundaries through the change of its undertaken deformation mechanism. Atomic rearrangement, the formations of a stress accumulation region and vacancy-rich zone and the nucleation and movement of dislocations under stress effect have been observed after the displacement cascades in grain boundaries, which are considered as main reasons to induce above degradation. These results suggest the necessity of considering both trapping efficiency to defects and the mechanical property change of irradiated grain boundaries for further development of radiation resistant materials. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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