Influence of Ar Implantation on the Precipitation in Au Ion Irradiated AISI 316L Solution Annealed Alloy

Abstract

ABSTRACT200 μm thick solution annealed AISI 316L stainless steel foils were implanted with Ar ions to produce a 0.25 at. % concentration-depth plateau extending from the near surface to a depth of ≈ 250 nm, and then annealed at 550°C for 2 hours to form small Ar bubbles and Ar-vacancy clusters. Distinct sets of samples (including control ones without Ar) were irradiated at the temperature of 550 °C with Au ions accelerated at 5 MeV to produce an average damage content about ≈36 dpa at the region containing the Ar plateau. These samples were investigated by transmission electron microscopy using plan-view specimens prepared by ion milling. In contrast with the control samples where the irradiation causes the formation of a high concentration of extended defects and large cavities, carbonite precipitation of 1:1 metal-carbon (MC) content with a cubic structure occurs only in the samples containing the Ar bubbles. This precipitation phenomenon is not commonly observed in the literature. The results are interpreted considering that the precipitate growth process requires the emission of vacancies which are synergistically absorbed by the growth of the Ar bubbles.

Prototypic Lightweight Alloy Design for Stellar‐Radiation Environments

“…[ 50 ] Although such retardation has been similarly reported in age‐hardenable Fe‐C alloys, [ 59,60 ] this phenomenon is opposed to common reports on austenitic stainless steels under energetic irradiation environments. [ 61–64 ] Recent values of solute‐vacancy binding energies were calculated by Wolverton; [ 65 ] ii)Guinier‐Preston zones (GPZs) and precipitation kinetics acceleration: as a result of neutron‐induced activation and transmutation of 27 AI, 28 Si via the nuclear reaction shown in Equation (), [ 66 ] increased nucleation and growth rates of GPZs and precipitation of phases such as MgSi were observed in commercial AlMg and AlMgSi alloys at temperatures where vacancies are mobile. [ 50,53 ] Acceleration of ‐phase (AlCu) precipitation in Al‐based Cu containing alloys was also reported under low temperature neutron irradiation.…”

Aspects of Applied Chemistry Related to Future Goals of Safety and Efficiency in Materials Development for Nuclear Energy

“…They have also been considered as structural components in innovative nuclear fusion test reactors due to the very good results they have obtained in applications in extreme environments [ 117 , 118 , 119 ]. The 300 series steels (Fe-Cr-Ni alloy) have good corrosion and mechanical properties for applications at high temperatures, making them viable to be applied in aeroengine parts, turbochargers, oil and gas pipelines [ 115 , 116 , 117 , 118 , 119 , 120 , 121 , 122 , 123 , 124 , 125 , 126 , 127 , 128 , 129 , 130 , 131 ], and as structural components in nuclear reactors [ 116 , 117 , 132 , 133 ]. The 304 SS is one of the austenitic steels that is most used in nuclear reactors.…”

The effect of flux on ion irradiation-enhanced precipitation in AISI-316L: An in-situ TEM study

“…A recent research study showed that for AISI 316L samples previously implanted with Ar and irradiated with 5 MeV Au ions a change in the irradiation temperature can induce the formation and evolution of radiation-induced precipitates, which was not observed in the samples without the previous Ar implantation. It was shown that the formation of RIP is highly dependent on the previous concentration of vacancies [15]. Also, by changing the ion from Au to Ag and subjecting the AISI 316L samples to the same total amount of damage and temperature results in a change in the microstructure due to the larger production of vacancies in the denser collision cascades of Au [16].…”