Microstructural Evolution and Swelling of High Strength, High Conductivity RS-PM Copper Alloys Irradiated to 14 Dpa with Neutrons

摘要

Microstructures and swelling have been studied for a series of high-strength, high-conductivity rapidly solidified (RS) powder metallurgy (PM) alloys and oxide dispersion alloys which were neutron irradiated to 14 dpa at 400 sup 0 C. The RS-PM alloys include Cu-Mg-Zr-Cr (MZC) and two oxide dispersion stabilized (ODS) alloys, Cu-Zr-ZrO sub 2 and Cu-Zr-Cr-ZrO sub 2 . Ingot materials and purte copper were also studied for comparison purposes. All alloys show no significant swelling after irradiation except OFHC pure copper, which exhibited 7.0% swelling. For the ODS alloys, TEM microstructures show stable fine oxide pinning of grain and subgrain boundaries as well as dislocations. In addition to fine oxides, a large amount of very fine metallic and intermetallic precipitation was observed within the grains. (ERA citation 11:027613)