Phase-Field Modeling of Microstructure and Thermal Conductivity Evolution under Radiation

The major factors that influence the thermal conductivity of the ceramics and metals are temperature, stoichiometry, microstructure, porosity, and point defects. Nuclear fuels and structure materials are subject to a severe radiation environment and their properties, including thermal conductivity change significantly with time and irradiation level. In particular, the accumulation of fission products and the formation of He bubbles can decrease the heat transfer, leading to overheating of the fuel element. In this work, we use the phase-field method to study the effect of microstructural changes on thermal conductivity. We developed a phase-field model to simulate the He bubble formation and growth in a single/polycrystalline material with defects. The model takes into account the generation of gas atoms and defects, gas atom diffusivity inhomogeneity, gas atom segregation, and gas bubble nucleation. With the model, we simulated the gas bubble and temperature evolution, and calculated the effect of gas bubble volume fraction on effective thermal conductivity