84 MeV C-ions irradiation effects on Zr–45Ti–5Al–3V alloy

Newly developed Zr–45Ti–5Al–3V alloy were irradiated by 84 MeV carbon ions with doses of 4 * 1015 ions/cm2 and 12 * 1015 ions/cm2, respectively. XRD, SEM, TEM, SAD and tensile tests were performed to study the microstructural evolution and mechanical properties modification upon high energy carbon ion irradiation. XRD patterns show no phase change while the diffraction peak position and intensity vary with irradiation doses. Tensile tests verify monotonic change of alloy strengths and elongations upon irradiation. Microstructure observations of the irradiated samples reveal the irradiation-induced precipitation of (Zr,Ti)3C2, which was believed contributing to the alloy hardening. Superlattice was discovered by the SAD patterns of original and irradiated samples and the high energy C-ions implantation was demonstrated to promote the disorder–order transition by introducing lattice defects.