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High-temperature Embrittlement of Stainless Steel irradiated in Fast Fluxes

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Abstract

IT has been widely demonstrated that irradiation in thermal fluxes results in the loss of high-temperature tensile ductility in stainless steels1–9, and strong evidence has been advanced to support the contention that helium produced from the boron-10 (nα) reaction with thermal neutrons is responsible for this loss in ductility9,10. Development of bubbles in irradiated stainless steels has been observed by thin foil electron microscopy (Fig. 1), and consideration of mechanical property, metallographic and electron microscope data led to the formulation of a theory of high-temperature embrittlement11–13. This was based on the weakening of grain boundaries by the migration to these areas, under stress, of helium to form bubbles larger than a critical size, failure occurring as the bubbles grew and linked together.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dounreay Experimental Reactor Establishment, Dounreay, Caithness

    A. S. FRASER, I. R. BIRSS & C. CAWTHORNE

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  1. A. S. FRASER
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  2. I. R. BIRSS
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  3. C. CAWTHORNE
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FRASER, A., BIRSS, I. & CAWTHORNE, C. High-temperature Embrittlement of Stainless Steel irradiated in Fast Fluxes. Nature 211, 291–292 (1966). https://doi.org/10.1038/211291a0

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