CHEMICAL SEGREGATION BEHAVIOR OF THE LOW-ACTIVATION FERRITIC MARTENSITIC STEEL F82H/

The microstructure of the low activation F82H ferritic/martensitic ste el has been investigated in the case of the heat treated and irradiate d material. The irradiation has been achieved with 590 MeV protons in the PIREX facility to a dose of 0.5 dpa at a temperature of 523 K. The mechanical properties being intrinsically related to the chemistry of the metal, the understanding of the segregation behavior of the diffe rent alloying elements to microstructure defects, such as boundaries, is crucial. The segregation behavior to irradiation of both martensite laths and pre-austenite grain (PAG) boundaries is investigated using energy filtered transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM). It appears t hat Fe depletion of boundaries is observed in all cases, and the heat treated material experiences Cr segregation to boundaries, while the i rradiated material experiences Cr depletion. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.