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Field-ion microscope detection of ultra-fine defects in neutron-irradiated fe-0.34 pct cu alloy

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Abstract

Copper is known to have a strong detrimental effect on the ductility of ferritic steels subjected to neutron irradiation at 288°C (550°F). Only small radiation-induced disloca-tion loops (3 to 5 nm in diam) have been observed by conventional means, such as trans-mission electron microscopy. Theory suggests the existence of stable copper/vacancy clusters with diameters and strain fields smaller than the practical resolution limit of the electron microscope. This paper reports experimental confirmation of the existence of such clusters. To simulate radiation-sensitive steels, a binary Fe-0.34 wt pct Cu al-loy was irradiated at 288°C (550°F) to a fluence of 3 × 1019 n/cm2 (E > 1 MeV) in the Union Carbide Tuxedo Park Reactor. Following irradiation, field-ion microscopy revealed a high density (∼8 x 1017 cm-3) of very fine structural imperfections with a mean diameter of 0.6 nm. These imperfections are believed to be responsible for the radiation-induced embrittlement of copper-containing ferritic steels and have been tentatively identified as copper-stabilized microvoids.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. U.S. Steel Corporation, 15146, Monroeville, PA

    S. S. Brenner (Associate Research Consultant)

  2. Institue for Metal Physics SFB 126, University of Gottingen, West Germany

    R. Wagner (Senior Assistant)

  3. Westinghouse Research and Development Center, 15235, Pittsburgh, PA

    J. A. Spitznagel (Fellow Scientist)

Authors
  1. S. S. Brenner
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  2. R. Wagner
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  3. J. A. Spitznagel
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Additional information

This paper is based on a presentation made at a symposium on “Radiation In-duced Atomic Rearrangements in Ordering and Clustering Alloys” held at the annual meeting of the AIME, Atlanta, Georgia, March 7 to 8, 1977, under the sponsorship of the Physical Metallurgy and Nuclear Metallurgy Committees of The Metallurgical Society of AIME.

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Brenner, S.S., Wagner, R. & Spitznagel, J.A. Field-ion microscope detection of ultra-fine defects in neutron-irradiated fe-0.34 pct cu alloy. Metall Trans A 9, 1761–1764 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02663405

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