Radiation-induced precipitation in V-(Cr,Fe)-Ti alloys irradiated at low temperature with low dose during neutron or ion irradiation

Effects of neutron irradiation damage on mechanical properties and microstr ucture were studied for V-4Cr-4Ti-0.1Si, V-3Fe-4Ti-0.1Si and vanadium binar y alloys with three fluences between 0.01 and 0.1 dpa for 220 degreesC and 340 degreesC. Irradiation hardening appeared in V-(Cr,Fe)-Ti alloys at an e arly stage of irradiation. Microstructural analysis showed that the irradia tion hardening in V-(Cr,Fe)-Ti alloys is caused by radiation-induced precip itates (RIPs). In order to investigate the behavior of RIPs, ion irradiatio ns of highly purified vanadium alloys were performed. It is likely that the nucleation and growth processes in vanadium alloys containing titanium are independent of the impurity concentration during ion irradiation. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.