On the Laplace-Young equation applied to spherical fluid inclusions in solid matrices

A Jelea, JOURNAL OF NUCLEAR MATERIALS, 505, 127-133 (2018).

DOI: 10.1016/j.jnucmat.2018.03.051

A continuum theory of surfaces is successfully applied to analyse a set of molecular dynamics results obtained on systems consisting of nanosize fluid bubbles trapped in a solid matrix. The equations of this theory supplied with molecular dynamics data allowed calculating the Gamma factor from the Laplace-Young equation as applied to systems of industrial interest, such as the helium bubbles that form along the ageing of some austenitic steel components of the nuclear reactors. The Gamma factor was found to have a non-linear dependency on the helium/steel interface strain. These findings are in contradiction with the implicit assumption made in some published literature considering Gamma as a constant. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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