| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2025 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Meeting Materials Challenges for the Future of Fusion Energy
|
| Presentation Title |
First Principles Calculations of Fusion-Relevant Transmutation Defects in SiC |
| Author(s) |
Alex Leide, Isabel Fernandez-Victorio, Yixuan Huang, Tesni Haddon-McMillan, Duc Nguyen-Manh |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Alex Leide |
| Abstract Scope |
High energy neutrons generated by D-T fusion reactions causes a variety of transmutations in fusion reactor materials. SiC composites are a promising high temperature structural material for breeder blankets, but carbon and silicon transmute at a high rate to helium, hydrogen, magnesium, and aluminium. Formation of helium or hydrogen bubbles is a concern for structural integrity, and magnesium and aluminium atoms may alter functional properties. It is difficult to experimentally probe the transmutation effects in SiC accurately, but fundamental atomistic modelling can give insights into these mechanisms.
Comprehensive data on binding energies of intrinsic defects, and point defect interactions with transmutation products have been obtained from density functional theory calculations. Migration barriers for helium and hydrogen have been calculated to evaluate diffusion and trapping and related to experimental data. Electronic structure calculations show aluminium substitution may narrow the bandgap of SiC reducing its performance as an insulating flow channel insert. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Nuclear Materials, Modeling and Simulation, Ceramics |