Effect of Cr on the mechanical properties and microstructure of Fe–Cr model alloys after n-irradiation

High-chromium ferritic–martensitic steels are candidate structural materials for high-temperature applications in fusion reactors and accelerator driven systems (ADS). Cr concentration has been shown to be a key parameter which needs to be optimized in order to guarantee the best corrosion and swelling resistance, together with the minimum embrittlement. The behavior of Fe–Cr model alloys with different Cr concentrations (0, 2.5, 5, 9 and 12 wt%Cr) has been studied. Tensile tests have been performed in order to characterize the flow properties in the temperature range from −160 °C to 300 °C. The trend of the yield strength with temperature shows that the strain hardening is the same for all materials at low temperatures, even though they have different microstructures. The same materials have been neutron-irradiated at 300 °C in the BR2 reactor of SCK·CEN, up to three different doses (0.06, 0.6 and 1.5 dpa). The results obtained so far indicate that even at these low doses, the Cr content affects the hardening behavior of Fe–Cr binary alloys. Using the Orowan mechanism, the TEM observed microstructure provides an explanation of the obtained hardening but only at the very low dose, 0.06 dpa. At higher doses, other hardening mechanisms are needed.