SEDL / STP / STP1046-EB / STP24670S

Void Ensemble Response to Periodical Variations of Irradiation Conditions

Koptelov, EA
Head of radiation physics group and scientist, Institute for Nuclear Research, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow,

Korolev, VV
Head of radiation physics group and scientist, Institute for Nuclear Research, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow,

Pages: 13    Published: Jan 1990

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Abstract

On the basis of the rate theory approach to void swelling we consider analytically the response of the radiation-induced defects to harmonic oscillations of irradiation parameters. The small deviations δx of the squared radius from its value in the stationary regime are shown to obey, in a linear approximation, the equation of a forced oscillator with damping. The term corresponding to an external force accounts for periodical variations of the damage rate or the irradiation temperature or both. The damping decrement σ considerably exceeds the intrinsic frequency of the system Ω, which means that in real irradiation conditions no resonance phenomena can exist. Thus, the deviations δx could be significant only for frequencies ω of irradiation parameters oscillations that are not too large compared to ω^eff = Ω²/2σ. The average void growth rate, however, remains practically unaffected by irradiation parameters pulsing almost in the whole temperature range of swelling except in the zone adjacent to the high temperature limit of swelling. Numerical data for meson physics facility irradiation with a typical frequency of 100 Hz and duty factor of 10^-2 are presented.