NSUF 24-4994: Hybrid proton and heavy ion irradiation for void swelling testing

This study introduces a novel method that combines proton and heavy ion irradiation to investigate void swelling in 316L stainless steel. The initial proton irradiation at 2 displacements per atom (DPA) is designed to induce stable voids, avoiding the complexities introduced by the injected interstitial effect, thus closely replicating reactor conditions. The subsequent heavy ion irradiation targets void growth, addressing the limitations posed by the low DPA rate of proton irradiation. With stable voids already formed during the proton irradiation phase, the defect reaction transitions from point recombination to defect trapping, effectively minimizing the influence of injected interstitial effect. Consequently, this hybrid approach is expected to yield void swelling data that is more accurate compared to heavy ion irradiation alone. This approach bears similarities to the neutron preconditioning approach (reactor + accelerator) but avoids neutron-induced activity and offers significant cost savings.

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Поле	Значення
Awarded Institution	Texas A&M University
Embargo End Date	2026-07-03
Facility Tech Lead	Lin Shao, Mukesh Bachhav
Irradiation Facilities	Accelerator Laboratory
NSUF Call	FY 2024 RTE 2nd Call
PI	Benjamin Mejia Diaz
PIE Facilities	Microscopy and Characterization Suite
Project Member	Mr. Benjamin Mejia Diaz, Graduate Research Assistant - Texas A&M University
Project Type	RTE