MICROSTRUCTURE EVOLUTION BY NEUTRON-IRRADIATION DURING CYCLIC TEMPERATURE-VARIATION

Utilizing a technique to control the temperature which is not influenced by the operation mode of a reactor, an irradiation during which the temperature was alternatively changed several times between two temperatures (T-cycle) has been performed. Some defect structures are understood as combinations of the defect processes at lower and higher temperatures, and some others are understood if the defect processes during the transient between the two temperatures are taken into consideration. However, the most remarkable characteristic of defect processes associated with the temperature variation is the reaction of point defect clusters induced by lower-temperature irradiation at the higher temperature. During lower-temperature irradiation, there is a greater accumulation of vacancy dusters as stacking fault tetrahedra in fee metals than that of interstitial clusters as dislocation loops. Vacancies evaporated from the vacancy clusters at higher temperature can eliminate interstitial clusters completely, and the repetition of these processes leads to unexpectedly slow defect structure development by T-cycle irradiation.