A Brief Review on He Ion Irradiation Research of Steel and Iron-Based Alloys in Nuclear Power Plants
Review article, 2023
Nuclear power plays a key role as renewable energy in alleviating the worldwide energy shortage. The material degradation caused by high-temperature and high-flux neutron irradiation is the most concerning issue for nuclear reactor safety. A large number of He atoms produced through the (n, alpha) transmutation reaction diffuse and migrate in metals and accumulate to form He bubbles because of the extremely low solubility of He atoms in metal materials. The helium bubbles gather at the grain boundary or grain to cause swelling, hardening, embrittlement, and other damages to the in-core structural components. This paper mainly summarizes the research progress on He irradiation in steel and iron-based alloys, including the diffusion and accumulation of He atoms, the nucleation and growth of He bubbles, and the microstructure and macroscopic degradation of material performance caused by He irradiation. The mechanism of helium irradiation-induced corrosion in steel and iron-based alloys in recent years is reviewed as well. Moreover, the investigations on irradiation performance in additive manufactured stainless steels are summarized, and the mechanism of irradiation resistance is prospected.
Irradiation
Nuclear stainless steel
Helium bubbles
Additive manufacture
Author
Siyi Qiu
University of Shanghai for Science and Technology
Hui Liu
University of Shanghai for Science and Technology
Menglei Jiang
University of Shanghai for Science and Technology
Shiling Min
University of Shanghai for Science and Technology
Yanlin Gu
University of Shanghai for Science and Technology
Qingyan Wang
University of Shanghai for Science and Technology
Jing Yang
University of Shanghai for Science and Technology
Xuejun Li
China Nuclear Power Engineering Co., Ltd.
Zhuoer Chen
Chalmers, Industrial and Materials Science, Materials and manufacture
Juan Hou
China Nuclear Power Engineering Co., Ltd.
University of Shanghai for Science and Technology
Acta Metallurgica Sinica (English Letters)
1006-7191 (ISSN) 21941289 (eISSN)
Vol. 36 4 529-551Driving Forces
Sustainable development
Subject Categories
Other Materials Engineering
Metallurgy and Metallic Materials
Corrosion Engineering
DOI
10.1007/s40195-022-01475-7