Nuclear energy, in alliance with other renewable energy, plays an important role in our modern society. Materials are the key to the safe, efficient, and economic operation of nuclear reactors. Degradation of the properties of nuclear materials can be easily achieved due to their exposure to harsh conditions including high irradiation fluxes, high temperatures, high pressures, aggressive chemical environments, and mechanical loading. Property changes in materials involving multiscale and multi-physics phenomena triggered by irradiation from the atomic level point defect formation to macroscopic material performance. Computational and modeling approaches as alternate tools to the experiment, have been successfully developed for understanding and predicting the behaviors of nuclear materials in irradiation environments over the last 50 years. These simulation tools, from the atomic to the macroscopic scale, include first-principle, molecular dynamics, kinetic Monte Carlo, cluster dynamics, phase-field crystal, phase-field, dislocation dynamics, finite element, machine-learning, etc., can cover the multiscale and multi-physics phenomena. Numerical analysis not only provides an effective way to avoid working in harsh and dangerous radiation environments but also can significantly reduce the cost. Therefore, computation and modeling are essential for the design and optimization of current and next-generation materials for reliable nuclear reactors.
The aim of this Research Topic is to introduce and summarize recent advances in computational and modeling approaches, new physics and material processes, microstructure evolution, and properties of nuclear materials at all scales. Nuclear materials cover but are not limited to structural and functional materials, plasma-facing materials, fuels, and cladding materials, for both fission and fusion reactors. Article types including the Original Research and Review are welcome.
Potential topics include but are not limited to the following.
• New numerical models for predicting irradiation behaviors in nuclear materials
• Modeling and simulation of new physics and materials processes for the nuclear energy application
• New understandings of the irradiation behaviors in nuclear materials
• Multiscale and multi-physics modeling and simulation of the atomic level defect behaviors to macroscopic properties of nuclear materials
• New algorithms for numerical models that advance the fast and accurate computing
• Data-driven to support new physics findings in nuclear materials
Nuclear energy, in alliance with other renewable energy, plays an important role in our modern society. Materials are the key to the safe, efficient, and economic operation of nuclear reactors. Degradation of the properties of nuclear materials can be easily achieved due to their exposure to harsh conditions including high irradiation fluxes, high temperatures, high pressures, aggressive chemical environments, and mechanical loading. Property changes in materials involving multiscale and multi-physics phenomena triggered by irradiation from the atomic level point defect formation to macroscopic material performance. Computational and modeling approaches as alternate tools to the experiment, have been successfully developed for understanding and predicting the behaviors of nuclear materials in irradiation environments over the last 50 years. These simulation tools, from the atomic to the macroscopic scale, include first-principle, molecular dynamics, kinetic Monte Carlo, cluster dynamics, phase-field crystal, phase-field, dislocation dynamics, finite element, machine-learning, etc., can cover the multiscale and multi-physics phenomena. Numerical analysis not only provides an effective way to avoid working in harsh and dangerous radiation environments but also can significantly reduce the cost. Therefore, computation and modeling are essential for the design and optimization of current and next-generation materials for reliable nuclear reactors.
The aim of this Research Topic is to introduce and summarize recent advances in computational and modeling approaches, new physics and material processes, microstructure evolution, and properties of nuclear materials at all scales. Nuclear materials cover but are not limited to structural and functional materials, plasma-facing materials, fuels, and cladding materials, for both fission and fusion reactors. Article types including the Original Research and Review are welcome.
Potential topics include but are not limited to the following.
• New numerical models for predicting irradiation behaviors in nuclear materials
• Modeling and simulation of new physics and materials processes for the nuclear energy application
• New understandings of the irradiation behaviors in nuclear materials
• Multiscale and multi-physics modeling and simulation of the atomic level defect behaviors to macroscopic properties of nuclear materials
• New algorithms for numerical models that advance the fast and accurate computing
• Data-driven to support new physics findings in nuclear materials
