Nuclear Materials via Advanced Manufacturing

Dear Colleagues,

The recent development in additive manufacturing (AM) techniques opens a wide range of opportunities for the application of advanced manufacturing methods that are capable of precisely controlling local microstructures, increasing geometric complexity, and have a high throughput compared to conventional manufacturing processes. Due to these benefits, AM has become an appealing technique to construct nuclear reactor components, such as fuel rods, cladding tubes and products such as complex hexagonal ducts for heat transfer. The responses of additively manufactured nuclear components often differ from those produced by conventional methods as AM often produces cracks, porosity, non-equilibrium phases, microstructural/chemical heterogeneity, residual stress, etc. To better exploit these opportunities, a comprehensive understanding of material behaviors under extreme environments related to nuclear energy systems is critical for the application of additively manufactured nuclear materials. Additionally, a correlation between the processing parameters, the resulting microstructures, and the performance of the materials can be established. 

This Special Issue aims to present the latest advances in the design, processing, characterization and properties of additively manufactured materials for nuclear fission and fusion applications. Other advanced manufacturing techniques such as high-pressure torsion, and surface mechanical grinding/attrition treatment are also welcome. Submissions can be either original research articles or review articles. This Special Issue will cover a wide range of topics, including, but not limited to, the following:

• Advances in additive manufacturing techniques for nuclear application.
• Mechanical properties and deformation mechanisms of additively manufactured nuclear materials.
• Radiation and thermal effects on additively manufactured nuclear materials.
• Small scale testing for irradiated materials.
• Advanced characterization techniques, such as in situ radiation, synchrotron X-ray, neutron diffraction, in situ mechanical testing, etc.

Dr. Zhongxia Shang
Guest Editor

Dr. Benjamin Stegman
Guest Editor Assistant

Manuscript Submission Information

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• nuclear materials
• additively manufacturing
• powder metallurgy
• radiation damages
• mechanical properties
• in situ characterization