Properties of oxide nanoclusters in ODS ferritic steels: A combined DFT and Metropolis Monte Carlo simulation study


Properties of oxide nanoclusters in ODS ferritic steels: A combined DFT and Metropolis Monte Carlo simulation study

Devaraj, M.; Posselt, M.

The main structural characteristic of Oxide Dispersion Strengthened (ODS) Fe-Cr alloys is the finely dispersed distribution of nm-size clusters that may contain O, Y, and Ti. Many details of the structure and composition of these nanoclusters are not yet fully understood. Numerous experiments demonstrated that number and size of the nanoclusters do not change significantly when ODS alloys are exposed to high dose irradiation and/or high temperatures. Furthermore, it was shown that the fine dispersion of the nanoclusters prevents recrystallization, i.e. the increase of grain size, which usually occurs at elevated temperatures. The extraordinary properties of the nanoclusters are deemed to be the cause of the superior high-temperature creep strength and the high radiation resistance of the ODS Fe-Cr alloys. Therefore, these materials are promising candidates for applications as structural materials in extreme environments, i.e. at high temperature and intense particle irradiation, such as in advanced nuclear fission and fusion reactors.
In this work a multiscale modeling approach is developed and successfully applied to interpret a large number of experimental data on the properties of nanoclusters in the ODS Fe-Cr alloys. Extensive first-principle calculations on embedded clusters containing few O, Y, Ti, and Cr atoms as well as vacancies are performed to obtain interaction parameters to be applied in Metropolis Monte Carlo simulations, within the framework of a rigid lattice model. A novel description using both pair and triple parameters is shown to be more precise than the commonly used pair parameterization. Simulated annealing provides comprehensive data on the energetics, structure and stoichiometry of nm-size clusters at . The results are fully consistent with the experimental finding of negligible coarsening and a high dispersion of the clusters, with the observation that the presence of Ti reduces the cluster size, and with the reported radiation tolerance of the clusters. In alloys without vacancies clusters show a planar structure, whereas the presence of vacancies leads to three-dimensional configurations. Additionally, Metropolis Monte Carlo simulations are carried out at high temperature in order to investigate the dependence of nanocluster composition on temperature. A good agreement between the existing experimental data on the ratios (Y+Ti):O, Y:Ti, (Y+Cr):O, and Y:Cr, and the simulation results is found. In some cases it is even possible to draw the conclusion that the respective alloys contained a certain amount of vacancies, or that the clusters analyzed were frozen-in high-temperature configurations. The comparison of experimental data with those obtained by simulations demonstrates that the assumption of nanoclusters which are coherent with the bcc lattice of the Fe-Cr matrix leads to reasonable results.

Keywords: ODS ferritic alloys; DFT; Monte Carlo simulation

  • Lecture (Conference)
    2nd International Workshop on ODS Materials, 26.-27.06.2014, Dresden, Germany

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Publ.-Id: 20612