Molecular dynamics of grain boundaries on the evolution behavior of irradiation defects in austenitic steels

his work simulated the cascade collision process of primary knock-on atoms with an energy of 10 keV in austenitic stainless steel alloy system (Fe-18Cr-10Ni) and GB systems (3(111), 3(112), 27(115)) at different temperatures using molecular dynamics. The extent of damage to the material after cascading of alloy systems with and without grain boundaries and the types of defects associated with them are analyzed. Through statistics, it was found that, except for the 3(111), a large number of defects exist inside the grain boundaries during the composite stage and do not participate in the recombination, and only a few defects remain in the matrix, indicating that the grain boundary can attract the defects generated by cascade process and reduce the existence of defects in the matrix. Evaluation of the strength of the grain boundary effect by calculating the absorption efficiency. Therefore, from a microscopic perspective, it is revealed that grain boundaries can play a role in strong absorption traps in materials, which provides theoretical guidance for the subsequent study of grain boundary effects.