Characterising Irradiation Induced Damage and Phase Changes

女王学院的三位PI正在试图了解辐射对材料性能的影响。这是由于RMTL设施(www.rmtl.ca)的存在；该设施使皇后大学成为世界上少数几所能够对样品进行质子束辐照的大学之一。这使我们能够在材料中产生损害，这与在高辐射应用中发现的损害直接相当，例如在核反应堆内或外太空中发现的损害。理解辐射对材料的影响并不是直截了当的，因为材料在核反应堆环境中的行为与在常规应用中的完全不同。该小组正在申请资金，以购买受控环境差示扫描量热/热重分析(DSC/TGA)仪器，以及用于监测热导率的系统。这将使监测辐射损害对热传导的影响(对设计下一代燃料包壳至关重要)，以及辐射对相变的影响，特别是聚集和沉淀。此外，我们将能够监测核电站中潜在事故情景下受辐射的金属和合金的氧化动力学。这些工具将在RMTL这一多用户设施中实施，所有用户都可使用。

Three PIs at Queen's are seeking to understand the influence of irradiation on material properties. This is made possible by the presence of the RMTL facility (www.rmtl.ca); this facility makes Queen's one of the few universities in the world capable of carrying out proton beam irradiation of samples. This allows us to generate damage in materials, which is directly comparable to the damage found in a high radiation application, for example inside a nuclear reactor or in extraterrestrial space. Understanding the impact of irradiation on materials is not straight-forward, since materials behave quite differently in a nuclear reactor environment than in conventional applications. The team are requesting funding to purchase a controlled environment Differential Scanning Calorimetry / Thermo-Gravimetric Analysis (DSC/TGA) instrument, and a system for monitoring thermal conductivity. These will allow the monitoring of the effect of radiation damage on thermal conduction (critical for design of next generation fuel claddings); and the impact of irradiation on phase changes, in particular clustering and precipitation. In addition, we will be able to monitor oxidation kinetics of irradiated metals and alloys under potential accident scenarios in nuclear plants. The tools will be implemented at the RMTL, a multi-user facility, and will be available to all users.