Advanced Nuclear Materials
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Oxford
Department Name: Materials
Abstract
This proposal aims to maintain and expand the research impact of an internationally-leading team working on advanced structural materials for applications in nuclear fission and fusion reactors. The funding will enable us to support early-career postdoctoral researchers (ECRs) in a flexible manner tailored to their individual career trajectories, by providing job security, mentorship, opportunities for new skills acquisition and CPD training, and will facilitate their developing their own research ideas. Their training and scientific outputs will contribute to the resurgence of UK fission reactor programmes and the UK's internationally leading role in fusion science and technology. It will be a key factor in maintaining the integrity of the multi-skilled Oxford nuclear materials research team, and in developing the careers of its ECRs, and in reinforcing its position as an attractive environment for research, attracting and supporting new talent. The Platform Grant will also provide resources for the team to explore ambitious and novel research avenues, underpinning applications (from UK and international sources) for larger-scale funding to enhance the international position of the UK in nuclear research.
Planned Impact
1) Career development of individual researchers. Platform Grant funding will be used to support and promote the development of technical and research leadership skills of our most promising future research leaders in nuclear materials, with immediate impact on their careers, and in the longer term, on the vitality of this research sector within the UK.
2) Maintenance of critical mass and essential skills of an internationally -recognised research grouping, by buffering funding gaps for our best PDRAs. Thsi will have an immediate effect on our maintaining a coherent skilled team of postdoctoral researchers, helping us to maintain the momentum of our scientific research in nuclear materials, and helping us build our capability further by generating a more attractive research environment for potential new recruits.
3) Underpinning support for a unique UK research capability in a strategically important technological area. This is of national and international importance. For the UK's continuation of its leading role in the development of fusion power, we need to develop our capability so as to have a strong involvement in the design and construction of DEMO reactors, in which a key area is the development and assessment of fusion-capable materials. In fission, it is essential that the UK has expertise in the key technologies, rather than being simply a passive customer of overseas expertise. In new designs, such as Gen IV and/or Small Modular Reactors, the UK has the opportunity to be a more active technology and IP generator. All this will need a substantial and continuing stream of technical and scientific experts. This Platform Grant will have considerable impact in these more strategic aspects, by providing stabilising underpinning support for a centre of excellence in techniques central to design, characterisation and evaluation of improved and new nuclear materials.
2) Maintenance of critical mass and essential skills of an internationally -recognised research grouping, by buffering funding gaps for our best PDRAs. Thsi will have an immediate effect on our maintaining a coherent skilled team of postdoctoral researchers, helping us to maintain the momentum of our scientific research in nuclear materials, and helping us build our capability further by generating a more attractive research environment for potential new recruits.
3) Underpinning support for a unique UK research capability in a strategically important technological area. This is of national and international importance. For the UK's continuation of its leading role in the development of fusion power, we need to develop our capability so as to have a strong involvement in the design and construction of DEMO reactors, in which a key area is the development and assessment of fusion-capable materials. In fission, it is essential that the UK has expertise in the key technologies, rather than being simply a passive customer of overseas expertise. In new designs, such as Gen IV and/or Small Modular Reactors, the UK has the opportunity to be a more active technology and IP generator. All this will need a substantial and continuing stream of technical and scientific experts. This Platform Grant will have considerable impact in these more strategic aspects, by providing stabilising underpinning support for a centre of excellence in techniques central to design, characterisation and evaluation of improved and new nuclear materials.
Organisations
- University of Oxford (Lead Research Organisation)
- EDF Energy R&D UK Centre Limited (Project Partner)
- Rolls-Royce Plc (UK) (Project Partner)
- Amec Foster Wheeler UK (Project Partner)
- Queen's University Canada (Project Partner)
- Fermilab (Project Partner)
- National Nuclear Laboratory (Project Partner)
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Project Partner)
- University of Manchester (Project Partner)
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) (Project Partner)
- Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres (Project Partner)
- Shimane University (Project Partner)
- University of Michigan (Project Partner)
- University of Huddersfield (Project Partner)
- CCFE/UKAEA (Project Partner)
Publications
Abernethy R
(2019)
Effects of neutron irradiation on the brittle to ductile transition in single crystal tungsten
in Journal of Nuclear Materials
Armstrong D
(2019)
Microstructural Evolution of Neutron Irradiated T91 Steel in ATR
Auger M
(2020)
Nanoscale analysis of ion irradiated ODS 14YWT ferritic alloy
in Journal of Nuclear Materials
Auger M.A.
(2019)
Post-irradiation analysis at the nanoscale of 14YWT after neutron irradiation (16.6 dpa) at 386oC and 412oC
in Transactions of the American Nuclear Society
Beake B
(2018)
Temperature dependence of strain rate sensitivity, indentation size effects and pile-up in polycrystalline tungsten from 25 to 950 °C
in Materials & Design
Carruthers A
(2021)
Novel reduced-activation TiVCrFe based high entropy alloys
in Journal of Alloys and Compounds
Das S
(2019)
Hardening and Strain Localisation in Helium-Ion-Implanted Tungsten.
in Scientific reports
Das S
(2018)
The effect of helium implantation on the deformation behaviour of tungsten: X-ray micro-diffraction and nanoindentation
in Scripta Materialia
Davis T
(2020)
Electron microscopy and atom probe tomography of nanoindentation deformation in oxide dispersion strengthened steels
in Materials Characterization
Davis T
(2021)
Nanocluster evolution and mechanical properties of ion irradiated T91 ferritic-martensitic steel
in Journal of Nuclear Materials
Fletcher C
(2020)
Towards model-driven reconstruction in atom probe tomography
in Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics
Fletcher C
(2022)
Automated calibration of model-driven reconstructions in atom probe tomography
in Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics
Gong C
(2021)
Revealing the Role of Fluoride-Rich Battery Electrode Interphases by Operando Transmission Electron Microscopy
in Advanced Energy Materials
Gramlich A
(2019)
Atom Probe Tomography of Carbides in Fe-Cr-(W)-C Steels
in steel research international
Haley J
(2019)
Helical Dislocations: Observation of Vacancy Defect Bias of Screw Dislocations in Neutron Irradiated Fe-9Cr
in SSRN Electronic Journal
Haley J
(2020)
Microstructural examination of neutron, proton and self-ion irradiation damage in a model Fe9Cr alloy
in Journal of Nuclear Materials
Haley J
(2017)
Dislocation loop evolution during in-situ ion irradiation of model FeCrAl alloys
in Acta Materialia
Haley J
(2019)
Helical dislocations: Observation of vacancy defect bias of screw dislocations in neutron irradiated Fe-9Cr
in Acta Materialia
Heuer S
(2020)
Microstructural and micromechanical assessment of aged ultra-fast sintered functionally graded iron/tungsten composites
in Materials & Design
Hong Z
(2017)
Development of a Novel Melt Spinning-Based Processing Route for Oxide Dispersion-Strengthened Steels
in Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A
Hussey A
(2020)
Statistically sound application of fiber push-out method for the study of locally non-uniform interfacial properties of SiC-SiC fiber composites
in Journal of the European Ceramic Society
Jenkins B
(2020)
A more holistic characterisation of internal interfaces in a variety of materials via complementary use of transmission Kikuchi diffraction and Atom probe tomography
in Applied Surface Science
Jenkins B
(2020)
The effect of composition variations on the response of steels subjected to high fluence neutron irradiation
in Materialia
Jones M
(2022)
Improving the Quantification of Deuterium in Zirconium Alloy Atom Probe Tomography Data Using Existing Analysis Methods
in Microscopy and Microanalysis
| Description | New methods for the analysis of nuclear materials have been developed and applied to a wide range of nuclear materials. |
| Exploitation Route | Use the new methods |
| Sectors | Aerospace Defence and Marine Energy Manufacturing including Industrial Biotechology |
| Description | techniques developed are being used at UKAEA for developing new materials for the STEP project. This includes TEM, APT and micromechanical methods. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2024 |
| Sector | Energy |
| Title | Research data for: Origin of age softening in the refractory high-entropy alloys |
| Description | This dataset contains the raw data used in the study on the "Origin of Age Softening in Refractory High-Entropy Alloys". It includes the 3D FIB/SEM dataset, nanoindentation datasets, Correlative SEM/EDX/EBSD dataset, APT dataset, STEM-EDX datasets, STEM-EELS dataset, and the TKD dataset.Description of the data and file structureThe raw data were collected using a series of advanced microscopy techniques and a nanoindenter from Ti-V-Nb-Ta high-entropy alloys. Details on the materials and the data acquisition parameters can be found in the paper "Origin of Age Softening in Refractory High-Entropy Alloys" by J. Liu et al. in Science Advances.Datasets include: 1. '3D FIB-SEM'Image stack.raw: This is a stack of two-dimensional scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images acquired by serially sectionning using a focused ion beam (FIB). The data can be accessed using commercial software Avizo or the open-source ImageJ software.Voxel size.txt: This file includes the voxel size information for the image stack.2. 'Nanoindentation' This folder contains the raw nanoindentation datasets from the four samples studied in the research. NanoSuite was used to extract the values of modulus and hardness.TiVNbTa_Wisc_700C_1day.mss: Nanoindentation data from the TiVNbTa sample after 1-day aging at 700°C.TiVNbTa_Wisc_700C_5days.mss: Nanoindentation data from the TiVNbTa sample after 5 days of aging at 700°C.TiVNbTa_Wisc_700C_40days.mss: Nanoindentation data from the TiVNbTa sample after 40 days of aging at 700°C.TiVNbTa_Wisc_homogenised.mss: Nanoindentation data from the homogenized TiVNbTa sample.3. 'APT' This folder contains the raw atom probe tomography (APT) data used to analyze the chemical composition at atomic resolution from the selected samples in the study. AP Suite was used to analyze and visualize the datasets.#1.HITS: Raw atom probe tomography data from the matrix of the Ti-V-Nb-Ta sample after 1-day aging at 700°C.#2.HITS to #6.HITS: Additional raw atom probe tomography datasets following the same description as #1.HITS.#7.HITS and #8.HITS: Raw atom probe tomography data from the matrix of the Ti-V-Nb-Ta sample after 40-day aging at 700°C.Precipitate.HITS: Raw atom probe tomography data containing a precipitate in the Ti-V-Nb-Ta sample after 40-day aging at 700°C.4. 'STEM-EDX' This folder contains the raw data of the energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) line scan used for the chemical analysis of the Ti-V-Nb-Ta sample after 40-day aging at 700°C. Aztec version 4.2 was used to interpret and extract the quantification line scan.TiVNbTa_40dayProject 1data: This folder includes the raw EDX data.reports: This folder includes two line scanning data in CSV format.Project 1.oip: This is the shortcut to use Aztec to open.5. 'STEM-EELS' This folder contains the energy electron loss spectroscopy (EELS) data used to analyze the chemical composition and oxidation states of specific elements in the TiVNbTa sample after 40-day aging at 700°C. Digital Micrograph can be used to open and analyze the .dm3 file.Core loss O reconstructed with 3 components.dm3: This is the aligned EELS map.GB precipitate.msa: This is the EELS spectrum extracted from a precipitate at the grain boundary in the EELS map.intragrainular precipitate.msa: This is the EELS spectrum extracted from a precipitate in the metal matrix in the EELS map.matrix.msa: This is the EELS spectrum extracted from the metal matrix in the EELS map.6. 'TKD' This folder contains the on-axis transmission Kikuchi diffraction (TKD) data used to interpret the crystallographic orientation of nanoscale features in the Ti-V-Nb-Ta sample after 40-day aging at 700°C. The .ctf files can be accessed using the Oxford Instruments Channel 5 software or the open-source Matlab codes at https://mtex-toolbox.github.io/.On_axis_5nm_1p5nA.ctf: TKD data from the TiVNbTa sample aged at 700°C for 40 days.7. 'SEM-EDX-EBSD' This folder contains co-located energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) chemical and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) orientation mapping from the selected samples, showing the chemical and crystallographic orientation information. Aztec version 4.2 was used to interpret the data and extract the maps.TiVNbTa_40dayProject 1data: This folder includes the raw EDX and EBSD data.Project 1.oip: This is the shortcut to use Aztec to open.TiVNbTa_homogenisedProject 1data: This folder includes the raw EDX and EBSD data.Project 1.oip: This is the shortcut to use Aztec to open.Methods3D FIB/SEM data were acquired with the Zeiss Crossbeam 540 dual-beam instrument.APT data were obtained using a CAMECA LEAP 5000XR instrument.SEM-EDX-EBSD data were collected using the Oxford Instruments XmaxN 150 EDX detector, and the Oxford Instruments Nordlys Max EBSD detector on a Zeiss Crossbeam 540 dual-beam instrument.STEM-EDX data were obtained with a Jeol JEM-3000F STEM equipped with an Oxford Instruments EDX detector.STEM-EELS data were collected on a Cs-corrected JEOL ARM 200F. .TKD data were acquired using a Zeiss Merlin FEG-SEM system equipped with a Bruker e-flash high-resolution EBSD detector and an OPTIMUSTM TKD head.Nanoindentation data were collected using an Agilent G200 nanoindenter with a Berkovich diamond indenter. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Research_data_for_Origin_of_age_softening_in_the_refractory_hi... |