Abstract
Abstract The effects of neutron irradiation on Al 6063, pre-exposed at 300 K to thermal fluences up to 8 ′ 1022 n cm−2 and fast fluences up to 4 ′ 1022 n cm−2, are studied by mechanical spectroscopy. The internal friction and dynamic shear modulus spectra as a function of temperature show variations which are strongly dependent on the dose. The 480 K internal friction peak of the unirradiated alloy (attributed in a previous work to solute dragging by dislocations) shifts to higher temperatures after irradiation. This peak shift is interpreted in terms of dislocation pinning by irradiation-induced clusters. The shear modulus increases by 15% at low doses and remains stable during thermal cycling in the range 300–550 K. It is shown that this hardening cannot be explained solely by dislocation pinning; an additional direct bulk effect of interstitials and clusters created by thermal neutrons is proposed to account for it. Complete recovery in the shear modulus is observed for higher doses after thermal cycling.
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