Tensile properties and deformation microstructure of highly neutron-irradiated 316 stainless steels at low and fast strain rate

Post-irradiation deformation behavior of solution-annealed (SA) and cold-worked (CW) 316 austenitic stainless steel irradiated to doses from 9 to 39 dpa is examined as a function of strain rate and irradiation conditions (neutron spectrum, temperature). Tensile properties are found to be significantly higher for lower irradiation temperature and for CW material, for similar irradiation levels. The effect of strain rate on tensile properties is shown to be weak in the range [10−8s−1; 10−4s−1]. TEM investigations after deformation for levels of plastic strain of about 1% show on SA 316 the presence of deformation bands corresponding to one or even a mixture of twins, extended stacking faults, α′-martensite islands and ε-martensite nanobands. Bundles of crisscrossing bands, found to be a composite of overlapping stacking faults, nanotwins and ε-martensite nanolayers, are observed at TEM foils edges near the grain boundaries with α′-martensite islands decorating these edges. Except observation of a slight decrease of the number of deformation bands in the specimen deformed at slower strain rate, no qualitative microstructural differences appear between specimens tested at slow and fast strain rates.