Helium bubble evolution in a Zr–Sn–Nb–Fe–Cr alloy during post-annealing: An in-situ investigation

The formation of helium bubbles is considered to be detrimental to the mechanical performance of the nuclear materials. The growth behaviors of helium bubbles in a helium ion implanted Zr–Sn–Nb–Fe–Cr alloy with respect to the helium fluence and subsequently annealing procedure were investigated by i...

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Published inMaterials characterization Vol. 107; pp. 309 - 316
Main Authors Shen, H.H., Peng, S.M., Chen, B., Naab, F.N., Sun, G.A., Zhou, W., Xiang, X., Sun, K., Zu, X.T.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Elsevier Inc 01.09.2015
Subjects
ALLOY SYSTEMS
ANNEALING
Bubbles
CHROMIUM COMPOUNDS
DISTRIBUTION
Evolution
Fluence
HEATING
HELIUM
Helium bubble
In situ investigation
IRON COMPOUNDS
IRRADIATION
MATERIALS SCIENCE
Mechanical properties
NIOBIUM COMPOUNDS
Nuclear engineering
SIMULATION
TEM
TIN COMPOUNDS
TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
Zirconium base alloys
ZIRCONIUM COMPOUNDS
Zr alloy
Helium bubble
In situ investigation
Annealing
TEM
Zr alloy
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Summary:The formation of helium bubbles is considered to be detrimental to the mechanical performance of the nuclear materials. The growth behaviors of helium bubbles in a helium ion implanted Zr–Sn–Nb–Fe–Cr alloy with respect to the helium fluence and subsequently annealing procedure were investigated by in-situ transmission electron microscopy. In the as-implanted sample, the measured size distributions of the helium bubbles are consistent with the simulated helium concentrations. Moreover, the mean size of the helium bubbles increases with the increase of the irradiation temperatures and the helium fluence. The in-situ heating study performed in a transmission electron microscope indicates that the mean size of the helium bubbles increase slowly below 923K and dramatically above 923K. The coarsening mechanism of the helium bubbles in the alloy is suggested based on the study. •Helium bubble growth in zirconium with annealing was in-situ investigated in TEM.•The mean helium bubble size increase with helium fluence and annealing temperature.•Helium bubble size distribution is same as that of helium concentration by SRIM.•Mean bubble size increases slowly and quickly with temperature below and above 923K.•The growth mechanism of the helium bubbles in Zr alloy has been discussed.
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ISSN:1044-5803
1873-4189
DOI:10.1016/j.matchar.2015.07.025