Radiation damage of 1Cr18Ni9Ti and Zr Ti Al alloys due to energetic particle irradiation

The radiation damage of 1Cr18Ni9Ti stainless steel and the Zr-Ti-Al alloy by 200 keV Xe+ ions bombardment at the fluence ranging from 1x10(14) to 8x10(15) ions/cm(2) has been investigated by conventional transmission electron microscope, X-ray diffraction line profile analysis (XRDLPA) and nanoindentation. XRDLPA shows that the order of magnitude of dislocation density in both materials remains almost unchanged up to the highest irradiation dose. Selected-area electron diffraction combined with bright and dark field image indicates that 1Cr18Ni9Ti is more easily damaged than the Zr-Ti-Al alloy. With increasing the ions fluence, the radiation damage became more severe in 1Cr18Ni9Ti, accompanied with phase transition and partial amorphization. The nano-hardness was found to increase rapidly with increasing ion fluence till the dose of 1x10(15) ions/cm(2), and then gradually saturate with dose. The enhancement of hardness in irradiated materials is clue to irradiation-induced defects acting as barriers to dislocation motion.