Fe-rich border and activation energy of phase decomposition in a Fe–Cr alloy

Abstract

Concentration of Cr in the Fe-rich α-phase, x, resulted from a phase decomposition caused by an isothermal annealing at T = 415 and 450 °C of a non-irradiated (NR) Fe–Cr14 EFDA sample and that of a He-ions irradiated one (IR) annealed at 415 °C was determined with Mossbauer spectroscopy. The x-value in the latter was by ∼3 at% higher than the one in the NR-counterpart. The activation energy for the phase decomposition in the NR-sample was 122 kJ mol−1. In the IR-sample its value was by 12 kJ mol−1 lower. Avrami exponents for the NR-samples were close to 0.5, and that the IR-sample had a value of about 1.