Void evolution in specimens which had been irradiated to high doses was studied numerically. It was found that, in order to simulate the void densities that were measured in this metal at high temperatures, the vacancy self-diffusivity had to be as high as 3.5eV, and the concentration of O had to be sufficient to provide void surface energies which were as low as 1.2J/m2. The modelling of high doses revealed the possibility of void coarsening at low temperatures, low void surface energies (due to O chemisorption) and low dislocation densities With increasing dislocation density, the maximum void concentrations increased significantly at low temperatures. At high temperatures, the situation was reversed. The dose which was required in order to give the maximum void number density went through a minimum at intermediate temperatures. In the initial stages of irradiation, the greatest swelling was predicted to occur at low dislocation densities and high O concentrations. This behavior was reversed at high doses.

Void Evolution Simulation in Neutron-Irradiated Vanadium. G.A.Epov: Journal of Nuclear Materials, 1996, 230[1], 84-90