Observation and rate theory modeling of grain boundary segregation in Σ3 twin boundaries in ion-irradiated stainless steel 316

Radiation-induced segregation (RIS) is the phenomenon of compositional change at point defect sinks in alloys irradiated at a moderate temperature. Owing to the potential relevance of RIS by way of the susceptibility of structural materials to irradiation-assisted stress corrosion cracking, basic research on austenitic stainless steels used in nuclear reactors has been carried out in recent years. In this work, commercial stainless steel 316 specimens were irradiated with Fe ions, and the resulting changes in Cr and Ni compositions were characterized using transmission electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The samples with various grain boundary orientations, including the special Σ3 orientation, were analyzed. The ledges of a few special Σ3 twin boundaries showed significantly higher RIS compared to the coherent regions. The RIS behavior of a parallel twin pair was observed, and two profiles of RIS were found in them. The inner twins in multi-twins showed considerably lower RIS compared to the outer twins. For the calculation of RIS, time-dependent differential equations based on the rate theory were established and numerically integrated. An additional variable, representing the sink strength of the grain boundary, was introduced in the differential equations, and the concentration profiles of the Σ3 twins were calculated. The calculated results were in good agreement with the experimental results.