The interaction of collision cascades with a (530) symmetrical tilt grain boundary in the body-centered cubic phase was studied by using molecular dynamics simulations. Collision cascades were generated by a 1keV primary knock-on atom at various distances from the boundary; arriving from various directions. The simulations indicated how the grain boundary acted as a barrier, and also as a region where defects could easily move along the boundary plane. It was shown that preferential sites existed, in the periodic structure of the (530) symmetrical tilt boundary, where defects were formed. These sites were identified, together with the atomic rearrangements which were produced in the grain boundary atomic structure. The grain boundary energy was increased by irradiation, and this increase was proportional to the number of defects in the grain boundary region.

Preferential Damage at Symmetrical Tilt Grain Boundaries in BCC Iron. F.J.Pérez-Pérez, R.Smith: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B, 2001, 180[1-4], 322-8