Title: Phase field modelling voids nucleation and growth in binary systems
Author(s):

	D.O. Kharchenko (Institute of Applied Physics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 58 Petropavlivska St., 40000 Sumy, Ukraine) ,
	V.O. Kharchenko (Institute of Applied Physics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 58 Petropavlivska St., 40000 Sumy, Ukraine) ,
	Y.M. Ovcharenko (Institute of Applied Physics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 58 Petropavlivska St., 40000 Sumy, Ukraine) ,
	O.B. Lysenko ( Institute of Applied Physics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 58 Petropavlivska St., 40000 Sumy, Ukraine ) ,
	I.A. Shuda (Sumy State University, 2 Rimskii-Korsakov St., 40007 Sumy, Ukraine) ,
	L. Wu (The First Institute, Nuclear Power Institute of China, 328, the 1st Section, Changshundadao Road, Shuangliu, Chengdu, China) ,
	R. Pan (The First Institute, Nuclear Power Institute of China, 328, the 1st Section, Changshundadao Road, Shuangliu, Chengdu, China)

We present a comprehensive study of voids formation, nucleation and growth in a prototype model of binary alloys subjected to irradiation by using a combined approach based on phase field and rate theories. It is shown that voids formation is caused by interaction of irradiation-produced vacancies through elastic deformation of a lattice and vacancy coupling with composition field of the alloy. Phase diagrams illustrating the formation of states related to solid solution, phase decomposition, and patterning are obtained. Formation of voids from supersaturated ensemble of vacancies is accompanied by composition rearrangement of alloy components. It was found that elastic inhomogeneity leading to the formation of anisotropic precipitates in an initially prepared binary alloy results in the formation of a void super-lattice under irradiation. It was shown that voids nucleate and grow with dose according to diffusion controlled precipitation processes, where universal dynamics of voids growth is revealed. Estimations of main quantitative and statistical characteristics of voids by using material parameters relevant to most of alloys and steels give good agreement with experimental observations.

Key words: binary alloy, patterning, irradiation, point defects, voids
PACS: 05.10.-a, 89.75.Kd, 61.80.Lj, 61.72.J-, 61.72.Qq

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