Abstract
We studied the mechanical properties of a neutron irradiated AISI 304L stainless steel using nanoindentation with respect to crystallographic grain orientation. After neutron irradiation, {110} planes exhibit slightly larger increase in hardness and modulus compared to {100} and {111} planes. Nanoindentation-induced twinning occurs in the unirradiated specimen, while austenite-to-martensite phase transformation arises in its irradiated counterpart. Deformation-induced martensitic transformation is related to the Gibbs free energy associated with the irradiation-induced voids, compensating the surface energy necessary to create martensite laths.
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