Speaker
Luca Messina
Description
Solute diffusion in alloys is mostly mediated by
defect-driven mechanisms. In irradiated materials, the
considerably large point-defect population may enhance or
even induce solute diffusion. In particular, in case of a
binding solute-defect interaction, kinetic correlation
effects may arise and lead to the formation of nanoscopic
solute-defect complexes. The latter may be detrimental for
the alloy structural integrity. In this talk we present a
novel method for predicting the arising of solute-defect
flux coupling in most types of alloys. The model combines
first-principles calculations with an analytical mean field
model and allows for the computation of solute transport and
diffusion coefficients at low temperatures, which are
usually inaccessible by means of experiments. The results
for model dilute alloys will be presented, and implications
on the structural integrity of nuclear reactor pressure
vessel steels will be discussed.
