Internally consistent model for radiation-induced void swelling

Most previous analytical models for radiation-induced void swelling employed reaction rate theory in which all concentrations were averaged out. Here a unified, internally consistent analytical approach is presented which incorporates the presence of dislocations, voids, and grain boundaries each with their own spatially varying diffusional fields. The results show large variations in sink strength Z-factors, usually treated as constants, significant variations in the void swelling bias factor, and quantitative levels of bias about an order of magnitude larger than most previous estimates. Good qualitative agreement is shown with available data, consistent with current concepts of close-pair annihilation in high-energy damage cascades