Please consider attending Zhongxia's Preliminary Exam Seminar. Also, accept my apologies for the delay in getting this notice out by email. I was out of town and neglected to send it out before I left. MATERIALS ENGINEERING SEMINAR "Study on Irradiation Response of Ferritin/Martensitic Steels" By Zhongxia Shang Purdue MSE Ph.D. Preliminary Exam Advisor: Professor Xinghang Zhang ABSTRACT This review paper mainly discusses the influence of irradiation induced volumetric swelling and hardening on the microstructures and mechanical properties of ferritic/martensitic steels. At the beginning, recent development and typical microstructures of ferritic/martensitic steels (9-12 %Cr) were introduced. Then swelling behaviors and hardening effects of the steels were investigated by a comparison with their austenitic counterparts. Finally, several mechanisms were summarized to explain the excellent swelling resistance but serious irradiation embrittlement of current ferritic/martensitic steels. This report provides a background for understanding the design of ferritic/martensitic steels for the future Generation IV nuclear reactors. Key words: generation IV nuclear reactors, ferritic/martensitic steels, volumetric swelling, irradiation hardening Date: Thursday, September 21, 2017 Time: 9:30 A.M. Place: ARMS 1021