Seminar: Multi-scale Computer Simulations of Reactor Materials: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

Rising global energy demand and its adverse environmental impact, especially greenhouse gas emissions, have led to renewed interest in nuclear energy. The increased use of nuclear power poses challenges for reactor materials and immobilizing high-level nuclear waste to meet environmental, non-proliferation, and security concerns. Reactor materials, such as SiC and ferritic steels, and ceramic nuclear waste forms, such as pyrochlore compounds, will suffer radiation damage either from high-energy neutrons or from the alpha-decay of actinides and become structurally unstable. I will discuss the recent developments of multiscale simulations of radiation effects and materials performance in a fission or fusion environment, including ab initio calculations, self-consistent accelerated molecular dynamics, advanced kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) methods, and phase field modeling. I will focus on one of the applications of multiscale modeling to study He behavior and materials performance in a fusion environment. These simulations provide important knowledge related to the relative stability of small He clusters, their migration and diffusion, nucleation of He bubbles, the emission of self-interstitial atoms and dislocation loops from He clusters, as well as their interactions with microstructural features.  Further, I will discuss how the atomic-level results can be used to inform mesoscale or macroscale methods to study the materials performance under extreme conditions: challenges and opportunities. 

About the Speaker

Dr. Fei Gao is currently a professor at Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Science, University of Michigan. Dr. Gao received both a B.S. in physics and a M.S. in materials science from Lanzhou University, P. R. China, and a Ph.D. in materials science from the University of Liverpool, United Kingdom. He has extensive experience covering a range of topics in theoretical materials physics and materials science, particularly in materials performance under extreme conditions. Dr Gao has also developed large-scale Monte Carlo method to accurately study electron-hole pair production, their spatial distribution and light yield in semiconductors and scintillators, which enhances homeland security against terrorist threats and prevents the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Dr. Gao has published five book chapters and more than 300 refereed journal papers. Dr. Gao has been an academic editor of AIP (American Institute Physics) Advances and a guest editor for a number of journals. Dr. Gao has delivered more than 100 invited lectures at university seminars, national laboratories and professional conferences, and organized or chaired a number of national and international conferences. He has been awarded for his outstanding performance more than four times by the U. S. Department of Energy and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Hosted by Professor Lei R. Cao