Influence of hydrogen on irradiation damage features in Zr-based alloys

项目描述：（最多4,000个字符）EPSRC工作人员阅读项目详细信息将试图确定项目适合我们的哪个研究领域（它可能不止一个）。为了帮助他们做到这一点，提供的项目细节应该尽可能具体，并清楚地描述：1)项目试图解决的研究问题/项目的目标；2)回答这些问题的方法（学生实际会做什么）；3)研究的新颖工程和/或物理科学内容（将其置于EPSRC职权范围内的科学）。如果您认为您知道EPSRC的哪些研究领域与该项目相关，那么包含此信息将会有所帮助。项目描述应该写得能够被受过教育的外行理解，并且应该定义任何首字母缩略词。锆基材料用于民用核反应堆的燃料棒包壳管和燃料组件结构部件。在一些Zr合金中，氢含量已被证明在增强辐照诱导生长方面起着重要作用，但对控制这种效应的机制知之甚少。该项目旨在使用一系列技术来研究氢与辐照损伤演变变化之间的相关性，从而为影响生长的机制提供新的见解。这个项目将关注的关键问题是：氢对辐照损伤和辐照诱导生长的影响的机制原因是什么？一套精心挑选的Zr基合金样品在Vogtle反应堆中辐照已由西屋公司提供。独特的基质包括有氢气预充和没有氢气预充的样品，辐照到四种不同的快中子通量水平。利用XRD谱线分析和TEM定量比较环结构随通量的变化情况。TEM和APT将用于了解化学分离的差异，并研究环与氢定位的关系。考虑到绘制氢的固有困难，将通过质子辐照氘带电材料产生额外的替代样品，从而促进APT对H/D定位的识别。该项目的总体目标是增加我们对氢如何影响辐照损伤的理解，从而开发改进的建模工具，并有信心预测如何提高昂贵燃料的利用率并减少浪费。EPSRC主题：先进材料，能源和脱碳

Project Description: (maximum of 4,000 characters)EPSRC staff reading the project details will be trying to determine which of our research areas the project fits into (it could be more than one). To help them do this, project details provided should be as specific as possible and clearly describe:1) the research questions the project is trying to address/the objectives of the project; 2) the approach that will be taken to answer these questions (what the student will actually be doing); 3) the novel engineering and/or physical sciences content of the research (the science that places it within EPSRC's remit).If you think you know which EPSRC research areas are relevant to the project, it would be helpful to include this. The project description should be written so as to be understandable by an educated lay-person and any acronyms should be defined. Zirconium based materials are used for fuel rod cladding tubes and fuel assembly structuralcomponents in civil nuclear reactors. Hydrogen content has been shown to play an important role inenhancing irradiation induced growth in some Zr alloys, however little is known about the mechanisms that govern this effect. This project aims to use a range of techniques to investigate correlations between hydrogen and changes in irradiation damage evolution, thereby providing new insight into the mechanisms that affect growth. This key question this project will focus on is:What are the mechanistic reasons for the effect of hydrogen on irradiation damage and irradiationinduced growth?A carefully selected set of samples of Zr based alloys irradiated in the Vogtle reactor has been provided by Westinghouse. The unique matrix includes samples with and without hydrogen precharging,irradiated to four different fast neutron fluence levels. XRD line profile analysis and TEM will be used to quantitatively compare how loop structures develop as function of fluence. TEM and APT will be used to understand any differences in chemical segregation and to investigate the association of loops with hydrogen localization. Given the inherent difficulties associated with mapping hydrogen, additional surrogate samples will be produced by proton irradiation of deuterium charged material, facilitating identification of H/D localization by APT. The overall aim of the project is to increase our understanding of how hydrogen affects irradiation damage, thereby enabling development of improved modelling tools and the confidence to predict how to achieve improved utilization of expensive fuel and reduce waste.EPSRC themes: Advanced Materials, Energy & Decarbonisation