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Spherical nanoindentation of proton irradiated 304 stainless steel: A comparison of small scale mechanical test techniques for measuring irradiation hardening

Journal Article · · Journal of Nuclear Materials
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [1];  [3];  [1]
  1. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  2. Univ. of Nevada, Reno, NV (United States). Chemical and Materials Engineering Dept.
  3. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Nuclear Engineering Dept.

Experimentally quantifying the mechanical effects of radiation damage in reactor materials is necessary for the development and qualification of new materials for improved performance and safety. This can be achieved in a high-throughput fashion through a combination of ion beam irradiation and small scale mechanical testing in contrast to the high cost and laborious nature of bulk testing of reactor irradiated samples. The current paper focuses on using spherical nanoindentation stress-strain curves on unirradiated and proton irradiated (10 dpa at 360 °C) 304 stainless steel to quantify the mechanical effects of radiation damage. Spherical nanoindentation stress-strain measurements show a radiation-induced increase in indentation yield strength from 1.36 GPa to 2.72 GPa and a radiation-induced increase in indentation work hardening rate of 10 GPa–30 GPa. These measurements are critically compared against Berkovich nanohardness, micropillar compression, and micro-tension measurements on the same material and similar grain orientations. The ratio of irradiated to unirradiated yield strength increases by a similar factor of 2 when measured via spherical nanoindentation or Berkovich nanohardness testing. A comparison of spherical indentation stress-strain curves to uniaxial (micropillar and micro-tension) stress-strain curves was achieved using a simple scaling relationship which shows good agreement for the unirradiated condition and poor agreement in post-yield behavior for the irradiated condition. Finally, the disagreement between spherical nanoindentation and uniaxial stress-strain curves is likely due to the plastic instability that occurs during uniaxial tests but is absent during spherical nanoindentation tests.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE), Nuclear Reactor Technologies (NE-7); USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Contributing Organization:
Univ. of Nevada, Reno, NV (United States); Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-06NA25396
OSTI ID:
1369195
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-17-20133
Journal Information:
Journal of Nuclear Materials, Journal Name: Journal of Nuclear Materials Vol. 493; ISSN 0022-3115
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (2)

Probing nanoscale damage gradients in ion-irradiated metals using spherical nanoindentation journal September 2017
New Insights into the Microstructural Changes During the Processing of Dual-Phase Steels from Multiresolution Spherical Indentation Stress–Strain Protocols journal December 2019

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