The effect of vacancy loops on the swelling expected for 316 steel under dual-beam irradiation

The theoretical interpretation of simultaneous heavy-ion irradiation and continuous helium injection experiments is extended to include the role of vacancy loops in the evolution of the microstructure. Whilst we find that their inclusion does not alter our previous conclusions concerning the role of the gas in explaining a high-temperature swelling peak, they do influence the details of the swelling response. This detailed influence is such that the results expected from dual-ion simulation experiments should be both more representative of the neutron irradiations and easier to observe than we had previously believed.