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The purpose of this study is to investigate the response of the precipitates against irradiation in F82H steels which are considered as main candidate structure material for the fusion DEMO reactor blanket. M23C6-type precipitates contained F82H-IEA steel, and MX- and M23C6-type precipitates contained F82H-BA12 steel were selected as experimental specimens. Iron irradiation at 673 K using ion accelerator was performed on both steels up to 50 dpa. After irradiation, the instability behavior of precipitates was characterized using transmission electron microscopy. It is found that in F82H-IEA specimens, the number density of radiation defects at 20 dpa was 3.26 × 1021 m−3, and the amorphization of M23C6 was undetected up to 50 dpa. Although Ostwald ripening occurred in M23C6 precipitates, the average size of M23C6 mildly decreased with irradiation dose within this study. For F82H-BA12 specimens, the shrinkage rate of MX- and M23C6-type precipitates was estimated respectively as 0.06 and 0.03 nm/dpa. Hence, the MX and M23C6-type precipitates in F82H steel exhibit an excellent irradiation resistance under the present irradiation condition. Moreover, the behaviors like amorphization and weakening in contrast were not observed in M23C6 precipitates in both specimens, which is different from electron irradiation, presumably due to the factors such as different damage rate. Keywords: F82H, Ion irradiation, Precipitates, Instability

The purpose of this study is to investigate the response of the precipitates against irradiation in F82H steels which are considered as main candidate structure material for the fusion DEMO reactor blanket. M23C6-type precipitates contained F82H-IEA steel, and MX- and M23C6-type precipitates contained F82H-BA12 steel were selected as experimental specimens. Iron irradiation at 673 K using ion accelerator was performed on both steels up to 50 dpa. After irradiation, the instability behavior of precipitates was characterized using transmission electron microscopy. It is found that in F82H-IEA specimens, the number density of radiation defects at 20 dpa was 3.26×1021 m−3, and the amorphization of M23C6 was undetected up to 50 dpa. Although Ostwald ripening occurred in M23C6 precipitates, the average size of M23C6 mildly decreased with irradiation dose within this study. For F82H-BA12 specimens, the shrinkage rate of MX- and M23C6-type precipitates was estimated respectively as 0.06 and 0.03 nm/dpa. Hence, the MX and M23C6-type precipitates in F82H steel exhibit an excellent irradiation resistance under the present irradiation condition. Moreover, the behaviors like amorphization and weakening in contrast were not observed in M23C6 precipitates in both specimens, which is different from electron irradiation, presumably due to the factors such as different damage rate.

In order to clarify the instability of M23C6 in F82H steel under irradiation, both electron irradiation using a high voltage electron microscope (HVEM) and ion irradiation using an ion accelerator were performed. For the electron irradiation, in-situ observation under 2 MV electron irradiation and ex-situ high resolution electron microscopic (HREM) analysis were utilized to evaluate the response of M23C6 against irradiation. The temperature dependence of the irradiation induced instability of the carbide was first confirmed: 293 K < T < 573 K, by observation of lowering in contrast at the periphery of carbides, 698 K < T < 773 K, fragmentation at the interface between carbides and matrix, and at 773 K, formation and coarsening of new particles near the periphery of M23C6. HREM analysis showed the loss of the lattice fringe contrast at the pre-existing M23C6 precipitates at temperatures ranging from 473 to 773 K, indicating severe loss of crystallinity due to dissolution of the constituent atoms though irradiation- enhanced diffusion under the vacancy diffusion by the focused electron beam irradiation. For the ion irradiation, 10.5MeV-Fe3+ ion was applied to bombard the F82H steel at 673K to achieve the displacement damage of 20 dpa at the depth of 1.0 µm from surface. Cross-section TEM specimens were prepared by a focused ion beam technique. The shrinkage of carbide particles was observed especially near the irradiation surface. Besides, the lattice fringes at the periphery of carbide were observed in the irradiated M23C6 by the HREM analysis, which is different from that observed in the electron irradiation. It was clarified that the instability of M23C6 is dependent on the irradiation conditions, indicating that the flow rate of vacancy type defects might be the key factor to cause the dissolution of constituent atoms of carbide particles into matrix under irradiation.

The effect of Mo addition on microstructures of β-quenched and subsequently annealed Zr-1.2Nb alloys is systematically investigated. Differential scanning calorimetry, electron backscatter diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray energy dispersive spectrometry techniques and microhardness tests are jointly utilized to characterize the microstructure and to evaluate the mechanical property. Martensitic microstructure, a mixture of lath martensites and lens martensites, is observed in the β-quenched specimens. Width of lath martensite reduces and fraction of lens martensite increases as the Mo content increases. This suggests that Mo addition retards slip deformation and enhances twinning deformation during the martensitic transformation, and that segregation of Mo atoms is also responsible for the lath width reduction. After annealing at 873 K, the martensitic structures are maintained, accompanying with the presence of numerous precipitates, which is attributed to the fact that the β-quenched microstructure is strain-relieved instead of being recrystallized. The distribution of the misorientation angle between the neighboring grains in both β-quenched and subsequently α-annealed specimens is predominantly around 60° regardless of the Mo content. Microhardness increases with increasing Mo content both in the β-quenched and the annealed specimens, and it drops greatly after annealing at a fixed composition. Keywords: Zr-Nb alloy, Zr-Nb-Mo, Martensite, Mo addition, Twinning, Precipitates