Materials Discovery

Materials discovery is closely linked with materials design, in which atomic elements and processing methods are selected to create a material to meet specific performance metrics. A related approach to materials design is integrated computational materials engineering (ICME), in which a multiscale modeling approach is used to design a material. Materials discovery and design is crucial in the field of nuclear energy because of the need for materials that can perform within the demanding service environments of nuclear reactors. Perhaps the most notable successes of the application of ICME to discover, design, qualify and deploy a novel material included two novel steels, Ferrium C61 and Ferrium S53. Another very recent development in the nuclear materials area is the use of advanced manufacturing techniques, especially additive manufacturing (AM) techniques, to fabricate nuclear components. AM techniques have shown great potential for the field fabrication of complex nuclear components.