钼铼合金纳米压痕力学响应的分子动力学模拟

Molecular Dynamics Simulation on Mechanical Response of Nano-indentation for Molybdenum-rhenium Alloy

  • 摘要: 钼铼(Mo-Re)合金具有良好的强度与塑性,作为核反应堆结构材料具有广阔的应用前景。添加Re是Mo-Re合金具有良好高温力学性能的关键因素,但是其改善效果与Re含量密切相关,而且在长期辐照环境中,Mo-Re合金会发生明显的硬化现象。纳米压痕技术由于其压入深度与离子辐照在材料内部造成的损伤层厚度相近,成为表征材料辐照后硬度变化的重要手段。利用分子动力学方法模拟不同成分Mo-Re合金在级联损伤前、后的纳米压入过程,并获得Mo-Re合金的纳米压入硬度。结果表明,Re含量增加和温度升高均会导致Mo-Re合金的纳米压入载荷下降,这与固溶分布的Re对位错滑移的促进作用有关。级联损伤后Mo-Re合金的纳米压入硬度同样受到Re含量与温度的双重影响,较低Re含量的Mo-3Re与Mo-5Re在较高温度级联损伤后硬化程度明显,而较高Re含量的Mo-14Re在高温级联损伤后保持较低的硬度增幅,表现出良好的高温力学性能。

     

    Abstract: Molybdenum-rhenium (Mo-Re) alloys are promising candidates for structural materials of advanced nuclear reactors, endowing with high melting point, good strength and plasticity, outstanding compatibilities with nuclear fuels and alkali metal coolant. The strategic incorporation of Re proves critical for improving the inherent room-temperature brittleness of pure Mo metal. However, the effects of Re doping show significant dependence on Re contents, and long-term irradiation will induce obvious hardening of Mo-Re alloys. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the high-temperature mechanical properties of Mo-mRe alloys (m=3%, 5%, 10%, 14%) with varying Re compositions. Nano-indentation technology has become an important tool to characterize the hardness change of materials after irradiation, because the indentation depth is similar to the thickness of the damage layer caused by ion irradiation. Therefore, in the present study, the nano-indentation load-displacement curves of Mo-mRe were simulated at different temperatures by molecular dynamics (MD) methods, based on which the nano-indentation hardness could be derived. To understand the effect of irradiation on nano-indentation hardness, displacement cascade at different temperatures were calculated, and the Frenkel defects surviving after the cascade were analyzed. The nano-indentation behaviors for Mo-mRe after displacement cascade were then investigated to evaluate the changes in the nano-indentation hardness due to the introduction of irradiation defects. The results show that the nano-indentation load of Mo-mRe decreases with both the increase of Re contents and temperatures. The uniformly distributed solute Re atoms will decrease the migration barrier of dislocation line, thus enhancing the deformation of Mo-Re alloy. High temperature also promotes the mobility of dislocation and shows a softening effect on Mo-Re alloy. The Frenkel defect pair numbers surviving after the equilibrium stage of displacement cascade decrease at high temperature, due to the enhanced diffusion and recombination of defects. However, at high temperature, Re contents exhibit complex influences on the survival Frenkel defect pair numbers. As the Re content increases, displaced Re atoms combine with Mo atoms to form more mixed Mo-Re interstitial pairs, predominantly existing as a single Mo-Re dumbbell. This leads to an overall reduction in the clustering of interstitial atoms in Mo-Re with high Re contents. For Mo-Re alloys subjected to displacement cascade, the increase in nano-indentation hardness for low-Re-content alloys (Mo-3Re, Mo-5Re, and Mo-10Re) under 650 °C shows significant enhancement, while the increase in nano-indentation hardness for Mo-14Re is the lowest. Based on the findings, temperature and Re content exhibit a dual influence on the nano-indentation mechanical response of Mo-Re alloys. Increasing Re contents within a certain range can help enhance the high-temperature mechanical properties of Mo-Re alloys to some extent.

     

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