Void coalescence in metals at high irradiation doses

Mechanism of void coalescence in a metal irradiated by fast particles : p to high doses in dpa is theoretically investigated. It is shown that the decrease of void concentration with the dose increase due to the coalescence of immobile but growing voids must obey the dependence N ₀ ～ exp {-α(δ V/V)(t)}, where δV/V(t) is the void swelling at a time moment t, and α is a constant, the value of which is in the interval 1 < α < 8 and seems to be close to α ≈ 6.

It is shown that the void concentration as a function of irradiation dose : hould have a maximum when the void swelling δ V/V reaches some definite value between 2% and 17% depending upon the void size distribution form.