| Abstract: | When fissionable materials are irradiated with neutrons, under certain conditions a supersaturated solution of inert gases is formed. There is intensive separation of the gaseous phase, accompanied by the formation and subsequent growth of a large number of gas pores. In the present work, making quite general assumptions regarding the manner in which the gas pores are produced, we investigate the kinetics of the diffusion process of their formation and growth, resulting both from the color of the material under the effect of the gas pressure in the pores and from a mechanism related to the diffusion of vacancies to the pores. In the latter case it is assumed that the influx of vacancies to a pore is correlated with the influx of gas atoms in such a way that the pressure of the gas in the pore is brought essentially into equilibrium with the pressure caused by surface tension. We obtain an asymptotic solution of this problem and find the asymptotic behavior of the number of pores and their average dimensions, as well as the asymptotic law governing the increase in volume (the swelling).Translated from Atomnaya Énergiya, Vol. 15, No. 5, pp. 393–403, November, 1963 |
