skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Neutron energy spectrum influence on irradiation hardening and microstructural development of tungsten

Journal Article · · Journal of Nuclear Materials

We performed a neutron irradiation to single crystal pure tungsten in the mixed spectrum High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR). In order to investigate the influences of neutron energy spectrum, the microstructure and irradiation hardening were compared with previous data obtained from the irradiation campaigns in the mixed spectrum Japan Material Testing Reactor (JMTR) and the sodium-cooled fast reactor Joyo. The irradiation temperatures were in the range of ~90–~800 °C and fast neutron fluences were 0.02–9.00 × 1025 n/m2 (E > 0.1 MeV). Post irradiation evaluation included Vickers hardness measurements and transmission electron microscopy. Moreover, the hardness and microstructure changes exhibited a clear dependence on the neutron energy spectrum. The hardness appeared to increase with increasing thermal neutron flux when fast fluence exceeds 1 × 1025 n/m2 (E > 0.1 MeV). Finally, irradiation induced precipitates considered to be χ- and σ-phases were observed in samples irradiated to >1 × 1025 n/m2 (E > 0.1 MeV), which were pronounced at high dose and due to the very high thermal neutron flux of HFIR. Although the irradiation hardening mainly caused by defects clusters in a low dose regime, the transmutation-induced precipitation appeared to impose additional significant hardening of the tungsten.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Fusion Energy Sciences (FES); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725; 15H06030
OSTI ID:
1279401
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1359425
Journal Information:
Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 479, Issue C; ISSN 0022-3115
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 53 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (23)

ITER full tungsten divertor qualification program and progress journal April 2014
Optimizing the overall configuration of a He-cooled W-alloy divertor for a power plant journal June 2009
Divertor conceptual designs for a fusion power plant journal December 2008
Comparison of microstructure with mechanical properties of irradiated tungsten journal November 1967
Tensile properties of neutron irradiated TZM and tungsten journal April 1976
Irradiation induced precipitation in tungsten based, W-Re alloys journal March 1983
Microstructural development of tungsten and tungsten–rhenium alloys due to neutron irradiation in HFIR journal December 2014
Transmutation and Phase Stability of Tungsten Armor in Fusion Power Plants journal July 2006
An integrated model for materials in a fusion power plant: transmutation, gas production, and helium embrittlement under neutron irradiation journal August 2012
Neutron-induced dpa, transmutations, gas production, and helium embrittlement of fusion materials journal November 2013
Defect evolution in single crystalline tungsten following low temperature and low dose neutron irradiation journal March 2016
Method for analyzing passive silicon carbide thermometry with a continuous dilatometer to determine irradiation temperature
  • Campbell, Anne A.; Porter, Wallace D.; Katoh, Yutai
  • Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, Vol. 370 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2016.01.005
journal March 2016
Neutron irradiation effects on tungsten materials journal October 2014
Neutron Irradiation Behavior of Tungsten journal January 2013
Effects of Re Content and Fabrication Process on Microstructural Changes and Hardening in Neutron Irradiated Tungsten journal January 2012
Microstructure Development in Neutron Irradiated Tungsten Alloys journal January 2011
Effects of Transmutation Elements on Neutron Irradiation Hardening of Tungsten journal January 2007
Microstructural development and irradiation hardening of W and W–(3–26) wt%Re alloys after high-temperature neutron irradiation to 0.15 dpa journal September 2006
Characterization of neutron field in the experimental fast reactor JOYO for fuel and structural material irradiation test journal March 2004
Neutron irradiation effects on the microstructural development of tungsten and tungsten alloys journal April 2016
Microstructural development of neutron irradiated W–Re alloys journal December 2000
Migration of rhenium and osmium interstitials in tungsten journal December 2015
Stability and mobility of rhenium and osmium in tungsten: first principles study journal September 2014

Cited By (4)

Controlled irradiation hardening of tungsten by cyclic recrystallization journal May 2019
PHENIX U.S.-Japan Collaboration Investigation of Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Thermal Neutron–Shielded Irradiated Tungsten journal May 2019
Pre-Irradiation Comparison of W-Based Alloys for the PHENIX Campaign: Microstructure, Composition, and Mechanical Properties journal May 2019
Controlled irradiation hardening of tungsten by cyclic recrystallization text January 2019

Similar Records

Irradiation hardening of pure tungsten exposed to neutron irradiation
Journal Article · Fri Aug 26 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Journal of Nuclear Materials · OSTI ID:1279401

Mechanical properties of single-crystal tungsten irradiated in a mixed spectrum fission reactor
Journal Article · Mon Mar 04 00:00:00 EST 2019 · Journal of Nuclear Materials · OSTI ID:1279401

Atom probe examinations of Zircaloy irradiated at nominally 358 °C
Journal Article · Wed May 01 00:00:00 EDT 2019 · Nuclear Materials and Energy · OSTI ID:1279401