Malmö University Publications
Change search
ExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
BETA

Project

Project type/Form of grant
Project grant
Title [sv]
Multinivå-modellering av mekaniska egenskaper hos bestrålat Zr och ZrH
Title [en]
Multiscale modeling of the mechanical properties of irradiated Zr and ZrH
Abstract [en]

Due to their low thermal neutron capture cross section and good corrosion resistance, zirconium-base alloys are commonly used as fuel cladding material in the cores of nuclear power reactors. During the service life, the fuel cladding is constantly subjected to heavy bombardment of high energy neutrons, causing displacement cascades in the material which give rise to microstructural damage in the forms of vacancy and self-interstitial clusters and increased dislocation density. This causes a hardening of the material, which results in increased yield and ultimate stresses, loss of ductility and an irradiation induced deviation in the elastic properties.

The scope of this proposed project is to quantify the effects of irradiation on the mechanical properties of zirconium and zirconium hydrides. The project comprises two parts: modeling and experimental validation. The modeling will be conducted through atomic scale molecular dynamics simulations and quantum mechanical DFT calculations. The atomistic results will be validated experimentally through nanoindentation testing of irradiated samples.

Collaborator: Studsvik Nuclear Corporation

 

 

 

Publications (1 of 1) Show all publications
Mehta, V., Daniel, R. & Olsson, P. A. (2024). Evaluation of δ-Phase ZrH1.4 to ZrH1.7 Thermal Neutron Scattering Laws Using Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics Simulations. Journal of nuclear engineering, 5(3), 330-346
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Evaluation of δ-Phase ZrH1.4 to ZrH1.7 Thermal Neutron Scattering Laws Using Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics Simulations
2024 (English)In: Journal of nuclear engineering, E-ISSN 2673-4362, Vol. 5, no 3, p. 330-346Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Zirconium hydride is commonly used for next-generation reactor designs due to its excellent hydrogen retention capacity at temperatures below 1000 K. These types of reactors operate at thermal neutron energies and require accurate representation of thermal scattering laws (TSLs) to optimize moderator performance and evaluate the safety indicators for reactor design. In this work, we present an atomic-scale representation of sub-stoichiometric ZrH2−x (0.3≤𝑥≤0.6), which relies on ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) in tandem with velocity auto-correlation (VAC) analysis to generate phonon density of states (DOS) for TSL development. The novel NJOY+NCrystal tool, developed by the European Spallation Source community, was utilized to generate the TSL formulations in the A Compact ENDF (ACE) format for its utility in neutron transport software. First, stoichiometric zirconium hydride cross sections were benchmarked with experiments. Then sub-stoichiometric zirconium hydride TSLs were developed. Significant deviations were observed between the new δ-phase ZrH2−x TSLs and the TSLs in the current ENDF release. It was also observed that varying the hydrogen vacancy defect concentration and sites did not cause as significant a change in the TSLs (e.g., ZrH1.4 vs. ZrH1.7) as was caused by the lattice transformation from 𝜖- to δ-phase.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
MDPI, 2024
National Category
Condensed Matter Physics Metallurgy and Metallic Materials
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-71088 (URN)10.3390/jne5030022 (DOI)001326513000001 ()2-s2.0-85208134029 (Scopus ID)
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 2016-04162Swedish Research Council, 2022–04497Knowledge Foundation, 20130022The Crafoord Foundation, 20150740
Available from: 2024-09-13 Created: 2024-09-13 Last updated: 2024-11-11Bibliographically approved
Project OfficerOlsson, Pär A T
Coordinating organisation
Malmö University
Funder
Period
2013-09-01 - 2015-08-31
Identifiers
DiVA, id: project:2376

Search in DiVA

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar