Temperature dependence of damage accumulation in α-zirconium

Abstract Using the input data obtained from molecular dynamics (MD) simulations on defect energetics and cascade damage, we present results obtained on irradiation of hexagonal-close-packed (hcp) α-zirconium under different conditions with a kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) model. We used three 25 keV cascade databases at temperatures of 100 K, 300 K and 600 K respectively. The evolution of the microstructure during irradiation for a dose rate of 10 −6 dpa/s, at temperatures of 100 K, 300 K and 600 K until a final dose of 0.1 dpa has been studied. We have considered isotropic motion for vacancies and one dimensional movement for interstitials and we have studied how the accumulation of damage is affected considering different temperatures. We present preliminary comparisons with experimental data.