Grain Boundary Engineering of an Additively Manufactured AlSi10Mg Alloy for Advanced Energy Systems: Grain Size Effects on He Bubbles Distribution and Evolution

Przemysław Snopiński (), Marek Barlak, Jerzy Zagórski and Marek Pagač
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Przemysław Snopiński: Department of Engineering Materials and Biomaterials, Silesian University of Technology, 18A Konarskiego Street, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland
Marek Barlak: Materials Research Lab, Material Physics Department, National Centre for Nuclear Research Świerk, 7 Sołtana St., 05-400 Otwock, Poland
Jerzy Zagórski: Materials Research Lab, Material Physics Department, National Centre for Nuclear Research Świerk, 7 Sołtana St., 05-400 Otwock, Poland
Marek Pagač: Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, VSB-TU Ostrava, 17. Listopadu 2172/15, 708 00 Ostrava, Czech Republic

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 20, 1-17

Abstract: The development of advanced energy materials is critical for the safety and efficiency of next-generation nuclear energy systems. Aluminum alloys present a compelling option due to their excellent neutronic properties, notably a low thermal neutron absorption cross-section. However, their historically poor high-temperature performance has limited their use in commercial power reactors. This makes them prime candidates for specialized, lower-temperature but high-radiation environments, such as research reactors, spent fuel storage systems, and spallation neutron sources. In these applications, mitigating radiation damage—particularly swelling and embrittlement from helium produced during irradiation—remains a paramount challenge. Grain Boundary Engineering (GBE) is a potent strategy to mitigate radiation damage by increasing the fraction of low-energy Coincident Site Lattice (CSL) boundaries. These interfaces act as effective sinks for radiation-induced point defects (vacancies and self-interstitials), suppressing their accumulation and subsequent clustering into damaging dislocation loops and voids. By controlling the defect population, GBE can substantially reduce macroscopic effects like volumetric swelling and embrittlement, enhancing material performance in harsh radiation environments. In this article we evaluate the efficacy of GBE in an AlSi10Mg alloy, a candidate material for nuclear applications. Samples were prepared via KOBO extrusion, with a subset undergoing subsequent annealing to produce varied initial grain sizes and grain boundary character distributions. This allows for a direct comparison of how these microstructural features influence the material’s response to helium ion irradiation, which simulates damage from fission and fusion reactions. The resulting post-irradiation defect structures and their interaction with the engineered grain boundary network were characterized using a combination of Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM), providing crucial insights for designing next-generation, radiation-tolerant energy materials.

Keywords: AlSi10Mg; HRTEM; irradiation; helium; bubbles (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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