Microstructural development due to long-term aging and ion irradiation behavior in weld metals of austenitic stainless steel

In a candidate austenitic stainless steel (316F) for fusion reactor structural materials, irradiation behavior of the weld metal produced by electron-beam welding (containing 7.9 vol% δ-ferrite) was investigated in terms of microstructural development. The densities of interstitial clusters in the γ-phase of the weld metal irradiated with He-ions at 673 and 773 K were about four times larger than those in 316F. Voids were formed in the δ-ferrite of the weld irradiated at 773 K. The number of clusters decreased in the weld metal (γ-phase) aged at 773 to 973 K, compared with that in the as-welded metal. The change in cluster density could be attributed to a Ni concentration increase in the γ-phase of the weld metal during aging.