Radiation damage in helium ion-irradiated reduced activation ferritic/martensitic steel

Nanocrystalline reduced activation ferritic/martensitic (RAFM) steel samples were prepared using surface mechanical attrition treatment (SMAT). Un-SMATed and SMATed reduced activation ferritic/martensitic samples were irradiated by helium ions at 200°C and 350°C with 2 dpa and 8 dpa, respectively, to investigate the effects of grain boundaries (GBs) and temperature on the formation of He bubbles during irradiation. Experimental results show that He bubbles are preferentially trapped at GBs in all the irradiated samples. Bubble denuded zones are clearly observed near the GBs at 350°C, whereas the bubble denuded zones are not obvious in the samples irradiated at 200°C. The average bubble size increases and the bubble density decreases with an increasing irradiation temperature from 200°C to 350°C. Both the average size and density of the bubbles increase with an increasing irradiation dose from 2 dpa to 8 dpa. Bubbles with smaller size and lower density were observed in the SMATed samples but not in the un-SMATed samples irradiated in the same conditions, which indicate that GBs play an important role during irradiation, and sink strength increases as grain size decreases.