Irradiation behaviors of two novel single-phase bcc-structure high-entropy alloys for accident-tolerant fuel cladding

doi:10.1016/j.jmst.2020.12.058

Abstract

Abstract:

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) are potential alternative materials for accident-tolerant fuel cladding due to their excellent irradiation resistance and high-temperature corrosion resistance. In this work, two novel body-centered cubic (bcc) structured Mo_0.5NbTiVCr_0.25 and Mo_0.5NbTiV_0.5Zr_0.25 HEAs were fabricated. Helium-ion irradiation was performed on the two HEAs to simulate neutron irradiation, and the crystal structure, hardness, and microstructure evolution were investigated. The crystal structure of the Mo_0.5NbTiVCr_0.25 HEA remained stable at low fluences, while amorphization may occur at high fluences in the two HEAs. The irradiation hardening value of the Mo_0.5NbTiVCr_0.25 was 0.77 GPa at fluences of 1 × 10¹⁷ ions/cm² and 1.49 GPa at fluences of 5 × 10¹⁷ ions/cm², while the hardening value of the Mo_0.5NbTiV_0.5Zr_0.25 was 1.36 GPa at ion fluences of 5 × 10¹⁷ ions/cm². In comparison with most of the conventional alloys, the two HEAs showed slight irradiation hardening. The helium bubbles and dislocation loops with small size were observed in the two HEAs after irradiation. This is the first time to report the formation of a dislocation loop in bcc-structure HEAs after irradiation. However, voids and precipitates were not observed in the two HEAs which could be ascribed to the high lattice distortion and compositional complexity of HEAs. This research revealed that the two HEAs show outstanding irradiation resistance, which may be promising accident-tolerant fuel cladding materials.

Key words: High-entropy alloy, Accident-tolerant fuel cladding, Helium-ion irradiation, Microstructure, Irradiation hardening

Zijian Zhang, En-Hou Han, Chao Xiang. Irradiation behaviors of two novel single-phase bcc-structure high-entropy alloys for accident-tolerant fuel cladding[J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2021, 84: 230-238.

Figures/Tables 13

Table 1 Nominal compositions (at.%) of the Cr-HEA and Zr-HEA.

HEAs	Cr	Mo	Nb	Ti	V	Zr
Cr-HEA	6.66	13.33	26.67	26.67	26.67	-
Zr-HEA	-	15.38	30.77	30.77	15.38	7.70

Fig. 1. The depth damage profiles of the Cr-HEA (a) and Zr-HEA (b) as-calculated by SRIM 2008 computer software.

Fig. 2. (a) XRD patterns of the unirradiated and irradiated Cr-HEA at ion fluences of 1 × 1017 ions/cm2 and 5 × 1017 ions/cm2. (b) XRD patterns of the unirradiated and irradiated Zr-HEA at ion fluences of 5 × 1017 ions/cm2.

Fig. 3. SEM backscatter electron images of the unirradiated Cr-HEA (a) and Zr-HEA (b). The two HEAs both have an equiaxed microstructure with the grain size of 100?200 μm.

Fig. 4. SAED patterns of the unirradiated Cr-HEA (a) and Zr-HEA (b). The two HEAs both show a single bcc structure.

Fig. 5. DF image (a), BF image (b), high-resolution image (c), and EDX line scanning (d) of Ti-rich precipitates in the unirradiated Cr-HEA.

Fig. 6. DF image (a), BF image (b), high-resolution image (c), and EDX line scanning (d) of Zr-rich precipitates in the unirradiated Zr-HEA.

Fig. 7. (a) Nanoindentation hardness as a function of the indentation depth in the unirradiated and irradiated Cr-HEA at ion fluences of 1 × 1017 ions/cm2 and 5 × 1017 ions/cm2. (b) Nanoindentation hardness as a function of the indentation depth in the unirradiated and irradiated Zr-HEA at ion fluences of 5 × 1017 ions/cm2. (c) Average nanoindentation hardness as a function of the irradiation fluence in the unirradiated and irradiated Cr-HEA and Zr-HEA.

Table 2 Nanoindentation test results (GPa) of the Cr-HEA and Zr-HEA.

HEAs	Unirradiated	1 × 10¹⁷ ions/cm²		5 × 10¹⁷ ions/cm²
HEAs	H₀	H₀	ΔH	H₀	ΔH
Cr-HEA	7.75 ± 0.33	8.52 ± 0.14	0.77 ± 0.47	9.24 ± 0.24	1.49 ± 0.57
Zr-HEA	7.09 ± 0.25	-	-	8.45 ± 0.20	1.36 ± 0.45

Fig. 8. Cross-section TEM BF images of the specimens irradiated by helium ion: (a) Cr-HEA at ion fluences of 1 × 1017 ions/cm2, (b) Cr-HEA at ion fluences of 5 × 1017 ions/cm2, (c) Zr-HEA at ion fluences of 5 × 1017 ions/cm2. There are considerable small white spots that represent helium bubbles. High-magnification TEM BF images of helium bubbles: (d) Cr-HEA at ion fluences of 5 × 1017 ions/cm2, (e) Zr-HEA at ion fluences of 5 × 1017 ions/cm2. The helium bubbles are marked by red arrows.

Fig. 9. Cross-section TEM BF images of the specimens irradiated by helium ion: (a) Cr-HEA at ion fluences of 1 × 1017 ions/cm2, (b) Cr-HEA at ion fluences of 5 × 1017 ions/cm2, (c) Zr-HEA at ion fluences of 5 × 1017 ions/cm2. Some irradiated-induced dislocation loops are marked by white arrows.

Table 3 Statistical results of dislocation of the Cr-HEA and Zr-HEA.

HEAs	Fluence (10¹⁷ ions/cm²)	Mean size (nm)	Density (10²¹ m^-3)
Cr-HEA	1	5.55	1.37
Cr-HEA	5	5.66	2.13
Zr-HEA	5	5.67	2.40

Fig. 10. Mean sizes of dislocation loops for conventional alloys from literature.

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