Damage structures in austenitic stainless steels during incubation period of void swelling

Abstract

The incubation period, a transient stage before the steady void swelling, in austenitic stainless steels is important, because it determines the duration of service under neutron irradiation in reactors. However, most of experimental studies have been performed after void formation by transmission electron microscopy, and point defects and their clusters under the resolution limits are impossible to detect. In this study, defect structures during the incubation period were studied by using positron annihilation lifetime measurement. The formations of small vacancy clusters below 363 K and precipitates above 563 K were detected by neutron irradiation. © 2009 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.