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Handbook of Materials Modeling pp 1–21Cite as

Phase-Field Modeling of Microstructure Evolution in Nuclear Materials

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Abstract

Irradiation is a unique driver for microstructure evolution in nuclear materials. It produces high concentrations of point defects and extended defects that trigger the formation of microstructural features such as voids, bubbles, precipitates and dislocations agglomerates. The evolution of such features significantly impacts the properties of materials, thus requiring careful modeling. The phase-field method has demonstrated its capability of simulating microstructure evolution in nuclear materials. Although the method does not yield as of yet quantitative results in various aspects of microstructure evolution, the community is working with the premise that the method will be a standard predictive tool in the future. The objective of this chapter is thus to present a concise summary of the status of development of the phase field approach for nuclear materials applications, with a special focus on the quantitative results obtained by following this approach. The strengths and limitations of the application of phase-field modeling of microstructure evolution in nuclear materials are discussed, and a summary of possible future research directions is presented.

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Acknowledgments

K. Ahmed would like to acknowledge the support from a faculty development grant from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC-HQ-84-16-G-0009). A. El-Azab acknowledges financial support from NSF-CMMI-Mechanics of Materials Program under contract number 1728419. This material is also based partially upon work supported as part of the Center for Materials Science of Nuclear Fuel, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the US Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences under award number FWP 1356, through subcontract number 00122223 at Purdue University.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nuclear Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA

    Karim Ahmed

  2. School of Materials Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA

    Anter El-Azab

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  1. Karim Ahmed
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  2. Anter El-Azab
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Correspondence to Karim Ahmed .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Physics, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Wanda Andreoni

  2. Department of Nuclear Science & Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

    Sidney Yip

Section Editor information

  1. Reactor Materials and Mechanical Design, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA

    Ram Devanathan

  2. Materials Science and Engineering, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Jaime Marian

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Ahmed, K., El-Azab, A. (2018). Phase-Field Modeling of Microstructure Evolution in Nuclear Materials. In: Andreoni, W., Yip, S. (eds) Handbook of Materials Modeling. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50257-1_133-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50257-1_133-1

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