Abstract
THE phenomenon in which the formation of voids in metals and alloys is induced by irradiation is now well documented. Void formation and the concomitant swelling in volume is undesirable in fast breeder reactors, so a great effort is being made to understand the phenomenon in detail. The process of void formation is, however, a complex function of several variables to do with the irradiation (flux, energy, temperature and so on) and material (dislocations, impurities, grain boundaries, particles and so on). The influence of only a few of these parameters on the void characteristics of metals and alloys has been studied theoretically and/or determined experimentally. As grain boundaries act as neutral and unsaturable sinks for both vacancies and self-interstitials, grain refinement is expected to reduce the void volume swelling. Here I describe some of the main findings of a systematic study of the effect of grain size on the void volume swelling.
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Singh, B. N., Risö Rept. No. 287 (March 1973).
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SINGH, B. Void Volume Swelling dependent on Grain Size in an Austenitic Stainless Steel. Nature Physical Science 244, 142 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1038/physci244142a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/physci244142a0