Influence of Defect Identification Method on the Statistics of Primary Irradiation Damage in α-Zirconium

Abstract

Molecular dynamics simulations are used to study primary irradiation damage in alpha-Zr as a function of incident neutron energy and temperature. Previous studies have concluded that the number of stable defects generated from displacement cascades in alpha-Zr is temperature independent. A new approach for identifying defects, based on temperature-dependent search radius, is developed. Our results contrast with previous studies, as defect production in alpha-Zr is revealed to be strongly temperature dependent. The number of defects generated was found to decrease with increasing temperature, although this decrease appears to saturate at 600 K. Based on the findings, an equation for defect generation which accounts for the influence of temperature and recoil energy is proposed.