Characterization of microstructures and mechanical property of Fe-ion-irradiated China A508-3 steel

• DOI: 10.1016/j.nimb.2021.06.021
• Publication Date: 2021-08-12T16:40:16Z
• Authors: Z.N. Ding; X.X. Han; Y.T. Yang; Y.G. Chen; X.L. Zhang; M.K. Niu; C.H. Zhang; X.B. Liu; F. Xue
• Keywords: Hardening (computing); Number density

Abstract Irradiation hardening of Chinese reactor pressure vessel steel A508-3 was evaluated by transmission electron microscopy and nanoindentation technique. The specimens were irradiated with 3.5 MeV 56Fe13+ ions to 1.0, 5.0, 15.0 and 20.0 dpa with a damage rate of 1.2 × 10-4 dpa/s at room temperature. The irradiation microsturcture observed by TEM revealed that the mean size and number density of the dislocation loops were both increased with the damage dose. Hardening phenomenon was observable after irradiation and a power law relationship of the bulk equivalent hardness with the damage level was proposed. The dispersed barrier hardening model was used to numerically calculate the correlation between the irradiation microstructure and hardening. The results show that the calculated hardness values are basically consistent with the experimental data at 5 dpa, but there is a certain deviation was found above 15 dpa, which may be caused by the formation of solute clusters.