Small Angle Neutron Scattering Analysis of Cu Precipitates in Fe-Cu Model Alloy

摘要

Small angle neutron scattering (SANS) has been used to investigate the influence of Cu on radiation hardening and embrittlement in neutron irradiated reactor pressure vessel steels. In this study, the Cu precipitate of thermally aged Fe-1.0wt percent Cu alloys was transformed from BCC to FCC. when the mean radius of precipitates attains to about 5 nm. The precipitation has continued beyond peak hardness. The size distribution, composition, shape, and volume fraction of Cu precipitates were obtained from SANS and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). Indirect transformation method developed by O. Glatter was used to obtain the size distribution of Cu precipitates from SANS data.