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Formation of < 100 > vacancy dislocation loops from two-dimensional vacancy platelets in body-centered cubic iron

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Abstract

The < 100 > vacancy dislocation loop is a unique defect of radiation damage in ferritic steels for advanced nuclear systems, but the mechanism responsible for the loop formation remains a puzzle. Here, we report on the formation of < 100 > vacancy dislocation loop in high energy collision cascades overlapping with pre-existing debris using atomistic simulations. Our computations reveal the existence of a novel defect, atomically thick two-dimensional vacancy platelets, in the intermediate stage of the loop formation. The energy analysis and annealing simulations suggests that the < 100 > vacancy loop can be directly produced from the collapse of the nanoscale vacancy platelets on some habit planes. Particularly, the formation of < 100 > vacancy loop depends sensitively on the thickness of the transient vacancy platelets, where a moderate number of two or three atomic layers is critical to form such loop. This is a new formation mechanism for < 100 > vacancy loops, which is different from all previously proposed mechanisms. In addition, the decrease in temperature and Cr concentration are both unfavorable to the collapse of vacancy platelets and thus suppress the < 100 > vacancy loop formation. This finding represents a significant step for understanding the formation of < 100 > vacancy dislocation loops that may provide a basis to enhance the radiation resistance of ferritic materials.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China under grant Nos. 12272118 and U1830117.

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China (12272118, U1830117).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CAS Key Laboratory of Mechanical Behavior and Design of Materials, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, People’s Republic of China

    Yong Yang, Yong Ni & Linghui He

  2. School of Civil Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, 230009, People’s Republic of China

    Xuepeng Liu

  3. Anhui Province Key Lab of Aerospace Structural Parts Forming Technology and Equipment, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, 230009, People’s Republic of China

    Xuepeng Liu

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YY contributed to investigation, methodology, formal analysis, data curation, and writing original draft. YN contributed to formal analysis and writing review and editing. XL contributed to supervision, conceptualization, funding acquisition, formal analysis, and writing review and editing. LH contributed to supervision, conceptualization, resources, formal analysis, funding acquisition, and writing review and editing.

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Yang, Y., Ni, Y., Liu, X. et al. Formation of < 100 > vacancy dislocation loops from two-dimensional vacancy platelets in body-centered cubic iron. J Mater Sci 59, 6386–6402 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-024-09608-2

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