arXiv subjects

Sicong He

Publications and source records attributed to Sicong He.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Irradiation-Driven Recrystallization in Fusion-Grade Tungsten: A Mesoscale, Microstructure-Aware Model

Tungsten (W) is the leading candidate material for plasma-facing components in fusion reactors, yet its upper operational temperature is limited by premature grain growth and recrystallization processes. Irradiation adds further complications by generating defect clusters and transmutation products that alter both the driving forces and kinetics of grain boundary motion. In this work, we develop a physics-based, multiscale framework that couples crystal plasticity, stochastic cluster dynamics, and discrete grain boundary dynamics to model the co-evolution of plastic deformation, irradiation damage, and grain growth in fusion-grade tungsten polycrystals. The approach enables simulations on realistic microstructures with arbitrary grain size and misorientation distributions, without recourse to mean-field simplifications. The model captures (i) the spatial heterogeneity of dislocation density distribution during hot working; (ii) irradiation-induced defect accumulation under fusion conditions, and (iii) the buildup of chemical and elastic driving forces for grain boundary migration and microstructural evolution. Parametric studies demonstrate the dominant influence that temperature has on thermally activated grain-boundary mobility, a weaker dependence on prior strain, and a pronounced retardation of recrystallization by rhenium segregation arising from neutron transmutation. Under fusion energy irradiation conditions, our framework predicts a substantial reduction of the effective recrystallization temperature relative to unirradiated microstructures, while Re production restores and even elevates this limit. By providing quantitative projections of recrystallization kinetics and in-service recrystallization temperatures, this work establishes a predictive tool for assessing the lifetime and operational envelope of W-based plasma-facing materials under fusion conditions.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Parameter-free prediction of irradiation defect structures in tungsten at room temperature using stochastic cluster dynamics

The foundations of irradiation damage theory were laid in the 1950s and 60s within the framework of chemical reaction kinetics. While helpful to analyze qualitative aspects of irradiation damage, the theory contained gaps that delayed its implementation and applicability as a predictive tool. The advent of computer simulations with atomistic resolution in the 80s and 90s revealed a series of mechanisms that have proved essential to understand key aspects of irradiation damage in crystalline solids. However, we still lack a comprehensive model that can connect atomic-level defect physics with experimental measurements of quantitative features of the irradiated microstructure. In this work, we present a mesoscale model that draws from our improved understanding of irradiation damage processes collected over the last few decades, bridging knowledge gained from our most sophisticated atomistic simulations with defect kinetics taking place over time scales many orders of magnitude larger than atomic interaction times. Importantly, the model contains no adjustable parameters and combines several essential pieces of irradiation damage physics: each playing an irreplaceable role in the context of the full model but of limited utility if considered in isolation. Crucially, we carry out a set of experiments carefully designed to isolate the key irradiation damage variables and facilitate validation. Using tungsten as a model material, we find exceptionally good agreement between our numerical predictions and experimental measurements of defect densities and defect cluster sizes.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2024

Grain boundary metastability controls irradiation resistance in nanocrystalline metals

Grain boundaries (GBs) in polycrystalline materials are powerful sinks for irradiation defects. While standard theories assume that the sink efficiency of a grain boundary is defined solely by its character before irradiation, recent evidence conclusively shows that the irradiation sink efficiency is a highly dynamic property controlled by the intrinsic metastability of GBs under far-from-equilibrium irradiation conditions. In this paper, we reveal that the denuded (i.e., defect-free) zone, typically the signature of a strong sink, can collapse as irradiation damage accumulates. We propose a radiation damage evolution model that captures this behavior based on the emergence of a series of irradiation defect-enabled metastable GB microstate changes that dynamically alter the ability of the GB to absorb further damage. We show that these microstate changes control further defect absorption and give rise to the formation of a defect network that manifests itself as a net Nye-tensor signal detectable via lattice curvature experiments.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2022

Thermal super-jogs control high-temperature strength in Nb-Mo-Ta-W alloys

Refractory multi-element alloys (RMEA) with body-centered cubic (bcc) structure have been the object of much research over the last decade due to their high potential as candidate materials for high-temperature applications. Most of these alloys display a remarkable strength at high temperatures, which cannot be explained by the standard model of bcc plasticity dominated by thermally-activated screw dislocation motion. Recent research on Nb-Mo-Ta-W alloys points to a heightened role of edge dislocations on deformation, which is generally attributed to atomic-level chemical fluctuations in the material and their interactions with dislocation cores during slip. However, while this model accounts for a strengthening effect due to the chemical complexity of the alloy, it is not sufficient to explain its strength across the entire thermal range. Here we propose a new mechanism that captures the existing theories about enhanced lattice strengthening and a thermally-activated component that emanates directly from the chemical complexity of the RMEA. This compositional complexity results in unique vacancy formation energy distributions with tails that extend into negative energies, leading to spontaneous, i.e., athermal, vacancy formation at edge dislocation cores. These vacancies relax into atomic-sized super-jogs on the dislocation line, acting as extra pinning points that increase the activation stress of the dislocation. At the same time, these super-jogs can displace diffusively along the glide direction, relieving with their motion some of the extra stress, thus countering the hardening effect due to jog-pinning. The interplay between these two processes as a function of temperature confers an extra strength to edge dislocation at intermediate-to-high temperatures, in remarkable agreement with experimental measurements in Nb-Mo-Ta-W and across a number of different RMEA.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗