Influence of tensile stress on cavity growth in nickel under helium irradiation

Abstract

The influence of tensile stress on cavity behavior in pure nickel under helium irradiation was investigated by in-situ observation using the transmission electron microscope (TEM) in which an ion gun is installed. Specimens were irradiated at 500 °C with 20 keV helium in the TEM. The dose rate was about 1014 He/cm2 s, and the angle between the helium beam and the normal direction of the specimens was about 60 °. The damage rate estimated by the E-DEP-1 code was about 0.6×10−3 dpa/s at its peak position. The main results are as follows: (1) cavity nucleation was accelerated by applying tensile stress, and cavity size in stressed specimens was several times larger than that in stress-free specimens; (2) cavity density in the stressed specimen increased more rapidly than in the stress-free specimen, and then decreased by cavity coalescences; (3) depth of cavity nucleation in the stress-free specimen was about 160 nm, while that in the stressed specimen was about 320 nm; that is, cavities nucleated in deeper regions in the stressed specimen than in the stress-free specimen. This result indicates that helium atoms and vacancies can migrate into the deeper region by applying tensile stress. (4) The experimental results obtained in this study can be explained qualitatively by the mechanism that mobile dislocations drag He-V complexes to the deeper region. This implies that there are similar phenomena in the case of compressive stress.