Thermal helium desorption behavior in advanced ferritic steels

Thermal helium desorption measurements were performed to investigate the difference in the helium trapping and accumulation behavior among a reduced activation ferritic (RAF) steel and oxide dispersion strengthening (ODS) steels after implantation of He+ ions at room temperature. Thermal helium desorption spectra (THDS) were obtained during annealing to 1200 °C at a heating rate of 1 °C/s. The THDS of the ODS steels are very similar to that of the RAF steel, except for the presence of the peak in the temperature range from 800 to 1000 °C, where the α-γ transformation related helium desorption from the γ-phase is considered to occur in the 9Cr-ODS martensitic steels. The fraction of helium desorption becomes larger at higher temperatures, and this trend is increased with the amount of implanted helium. In the 9Cr-ODS steels, the fraction of helium desorption by bubble migration mechanism was smaller than that in the RAF steel. This suggests that the bubble formation was suppressed in the ODS steels. In the 12Cr-ODS steel, the fraction of helium desorption by bubble migration reached more than 90%, suggesting that the trapping capacity of martensite phase in the 9Cr-ODS steel is rather large.