2026-09-20T10:23:58Zhttps://dspace.mit.edu/server/oai/requestoai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/1124822025-09-10T13:48:56Zcom_1721.1_7582com_1721.1_7581col_1721.1_131024
Michael P. Short.
Carter, Ki-Jana (Ki-Jana B.)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering
2017-12-05T19:14:47Z
2017-12-05T19:14:47Z
2017
2017
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/112482
1011413174
Thesis: S.B., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, 2017.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 55-58).
Radiation damage in materials can cause critical components in fission and fusion reactors to fail with potentially catastrophic consequences. Radiation damage quantification is essential for understanding, predicting, and preventing such failures. The current unit of radiation damage, displacements per atom (DPA), is not a measurable quantity, and it is known to be an inaccurate measure of radiation damage. This project aims to quantify radiation damage accurately and measurably by characterizing the storage of energy in radiation-induced material defects, known as Wigner energy storage. In order to gain an atomistic understanding of radiation damage, the irradiation and calorimetry of elemental copper were simulated using molecular dynamics code. A custom defect analysis script was used to determine the energy stored as a function of irradiation energy and defect type. Wigner energy peaks were clearly visible in the calorimetry data, indicating that Wigner energy measurement is a plausible technique for quantifying radiation damage. Future work should focus on achieving more realistic heating rates and measuring Wigner energy storage experimentally using fast scanning calorimetry.
by Ki-Jana Carter.
S.B.
73 pages
eng
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.
http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582
Nuclear Science and Engineering.
Radiation damage quantification in elemental copper using Wigner energy storage
Thesis
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<Abstract>Radiation damage in materials can cause critical components in fission and fusion reactors to fail with potentially catastrophic consequences. Radiation damage quantification is essential for understanding, predicting, and preventing such failures. The current unit of radiation damage, displacements per atom (DPA), is not a measurable quantity, and it is known to be an inaccurate measure of radiation damage. This project aims to quantify radiation damage accurately and measurably by characterizing the storage of energy in radiation-induced material defects, known as Wigner energy storage. In order to gain an atomistic understanding of radiation damage, the irradiation and calorimetry of elemental copper were simulated using molecular dynamics code. A custom defect analysis script was used to determine the energy stored as a function of irradiation energy and defect type. Wigner energy peaks were clearly visible in the calorimetry data, indicating that Wigner energy measurement is a plausible technique for quantifying radiation damage. Future work should focus on achieving more realistic heating rates and measuring Wigner energy storage experimentally using fast scanning calorimetry.</Abstract>
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