Advanced Manufacturing (Additive, powder metallurgy, etc.) - Additive Friction Stir Deposition of High Entropy Alloys for Nuclear Applications

Wednesday, February 26, 2025: 2:20 PM
Indian Wells J (Grand Hyatt Indian Wells Resort)
Dr. Subhashish Meher , Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA
Dr. Mohan Nartu , Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA
Dr. Jorge F. dos Santos , Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA
Dr. Isabella van Rooyen , Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA
Dr. Tianhao Wang , Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA
Dr. David Garcia , Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA
Mr. Irving Brown , Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA
The development of high temperature fuel cladding materials to withstand a variety of extreme environments have received much attention. Several potential materials systems that have been identified for the fuel systems and core structural materials application in advanced reactor systems are ferritic/martensitic steel (e.g., HT9), austenitic stainless steels (e.g., 316 LN), oxide-dispersion strengthened steels (e.g., 12 YWT), Ni-based alloys and ceramic-based composites depending on the type of the reactors. Though these material systems have promising properties conducive for radiation-resistant performance, they suffer beyond the design-limit from one or more damage processes such as void swelling, radiation embrittlement, phase instability, corrosion, and limited creep life. Application of the latest developments in materials and advanced manufacturing techniques may greatly aid in the successful pursuit of next generation reactor and transmutation technologies.
In this work, Additive Friction Stir Deposition on a Cu-containing high entropy alloy (HEA) has been performed for its suitability of the core component of nuclear materials. Excellent irradiation behavior in this Cu-containing HEA has been reported previously. Additive friction stir deposition offers a solid-state deformation processing route to metal additive manufacturing, in which the feed material undergoes severe plastic deformation at elevated temperatures. Some of the key advantages of this process are fabrication of fully dense material with fine, equiaxed microstructures. This work presents the hardness, tensile properties, and microstructural characterization of this additive product. The as-fabricated product was heat treated for optimized Cu-precipitate distribution in the matrix. Transmission electron microscopy was carried out to understand the precipitate nature in detail.