Abstract
The influence of low energy ion irradiation on mechanical and structural properties of Oxide Dispersion Strengthened (ODS) Reduced Activation Ferritic (RAF) steels were investigated using Nanoindentation (NI), High Resolution Scanning Electron Microscopy (HR SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) techniques. ODS samples were manufactured by means of High Isostatic Pressing (HIP) technique and irradiated at room temperature with 320 keV Ar2+ ions up to fluences reaching 1 × 1016 cm−2. The results revealed fast increase of nanohardness in the function of two dependencies: (i) vanadium addition and (ii) ion fluence range. Furthermore, along with increasing vanadium content, the increase in the number of ∼100 nm sized precipitates consisting of Cr-O-V and Cr-C-V with small amounts of alloying elements (Ti, Al, W) have been observed. Simultaneously, the presence of nano-precipitates, with average size below 10 nm has been recorded. Conducted research confirms that their number decreases with increasing V content. The reported hardening effect is most probably related to: (i) quantity and size of precipitates identified as chromium-vanadium oxides and carbides with addition of alloying elements and (ii) level of damage created by ion irradiation.
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