Multi-scale modeling of radiation hardening in RPV and austenitic stainless steels: from the atomic to the continuum scale - 4004

In this paper, we present recent progress in multi-scale modeling of radiation induced hardening (RIH) in Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) steels and internal steels. We first show that the yield stress prior to irradiation has a non negligible effect on the RIH, which is found to superpose quadratically with the forest and precipitate hardening. Then, we show how Dislocation Dynamics (DD) simulations can integrate atomistic results and elaborate constitutive equations of plastic behavior. In the following, we present two typical application of our modeling approach. First, results suggest that RIH in internal steels can be attributed to the so called 'black dots', which are frequently observed in experiments, rather than the faulted (or un-faulted) large dislocation loops. The second example, deals with the possible hardening induced by solute clusters, frequently observed in RPV steels. Simulations have allowed us to provide a good approximation of the impact of the solute clusters on the yield stress of RPV steels. This short paper is followed by the slides of the presentation