Effect of Lath Width and Dislocation Density on Resistance to Irradiation of Warmly Deformed SCRAM Steel

The martensitic lath width (0.83 ± 0.45μm ∼ 0.48 ± 0.14 μm) and dislocation density (1.3 ± 0.3 × 10¹⁵ m⁻² ∼ 6.4 ± 1.6 ×10¹⁵ m⁻²⁾ change of Super-clean Reduced Activation Martensitic (SCRAM) steel caused by warm deformation on Gleeble-3500 thermo-simulation machine have been examined. The irradiation-induced helium bubbles and hardening were observed in all the specimens after helium implantation to 1e + 17/cm² at 723 K. The helium bubbles became smaller and more numerous while the distribution was more homogeneous when the lath width decrease and dislocation density increase. The nano-indentation hardness indicated that the sample, the martensitic lath width is 0.83 ± 0.45μm and the dislocation density is 1.3 ± 0.3 × 10¹⁵ m⁻², exhibited the maximum nano-indentation variation (ΔH) and the ΔH decreased with the lath width decreasing and dislocation density increasing. The hardening occurred in all helium implanted samples can mainly be ascribed to helium bubbles.