Irradiation hardening induced by blistering in tungsten due to low-energy high flux hydrogen plasma exposure

W.Q. Chen; X.Z. Xiao; B. Pang; S.S. Si; Y.Z. Jia; B. Xu; T.W. Morgan; W. Liu; Y.L. Chiu

doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2019.05.004

Irradiation hardening induced by blistering in tungsten due to low-energy high flux hydrogen plasma exposure

W.Q. Chen, X.Z. Xiao (Corresponding author), B. Pang, S.S. Si, Y.Z. Jia, B. Xu, T.W. Morgan, W. Liu, Y.L. Chiu (Corresponding author)

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Abstract

In this work, the microstructure evolution in the near-surface of tungsten under hydrogen (H)plasma exposure conditions was observed by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), plasma focused ion beam (FIB)and transmission electron microscopy (TEM)techniques. Blisters, with existing dislocations distributed around obviously, were observed beneath the tungsten surface when the exposure temperature was 573 K, which was rarely reported in previous studies. However, H bombardment at 1273 K did not lead to the formation of blister-like microstructures. Correspondingly, irradiation hardening occurred after low temperature exposure, but not after high temperature exposure, according to the Berkovich nano-indentation experiments. In order to characterize the indentation size effect and irradiation hardening behavior of plasma-exposed materials, a mechanistic model was proposed for the hardness-depth relationship. A good agreement between the experimental indentation data and theoretical results revealed that plasma-induced dislocations play a dominant role in determining the increase of hardness for H plasma-exposed tungsten.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	11-18
Number of pages	8
Journal	Journal of Nuclear Materials
Volume	522
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2019.05.004
Publication status	Published - 15 Aug 2019
Externally published	Yes

Funding

This work was supported by National Magnetic Confinement Fusion Science Program of China under Grant 2014GB117000 and the National Nature Science Foundation of China under Contract No. 51471092 , No. 11802344 and No. 11405150 , the Tsinghua Scholarship for Overseas Graduate Studies, and the initial funding supported by Central South University . Furthermore, the technical supports from DIFFER, Netherlands, and the Center for Electron Microscopy of the University of Birmingham, UK, are acknowledged. W.Q. Chen is grateful for valuable supports on TEM and plasma FIB techniques from Dr. Jing Wu, Dr. Jinsen Tian and Dr. Minshi Wang from the University of Birmingham, and flash polishing from Dr. Robin Schaeublin of ETHZ Switzerland. The help of Mr. Wangguo Guo from Beihang University on this work is gratefully acknowledged.

Keywords

Blistering
Irradiation hardening
Nano-indentation
TEM
Theoretical model

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title = "Irradiation hardening induced by blistering in tungsten due to low-energy high flux hydrogen plasma exposure",

abstract = "In this work, the microstructure evolution in the near-surface of tungsten under hydrogen (H)plasma exposure conditions was observed by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), plasma focused ion beam (FIB)and transmission electron microscopy (TEM)techniques. Blisters, with existing dislocations distributed around obviously, were observed beneath the tungsten surface when the exposure temperature was 573 K, which was rarely reported in previous studies. However, H bombardment at 1273 K did not lead to the formation of blister-like microstructures. Correspondingly, irradiation hardening occurred after low temperature exposure, but not after high temperature exposure, according to the Berkovich nano-indentation experiments. In order to characterize the indentation size effect and irradiation hardening behavior of plasma-exposed materials, a mechanistic model was proposed for the hardness-depth relationship. A good agreement between the experimental indentation data and theoretical results revealed that plasma-induced dislocations play a dominant role in determining the increase of hardness for H plasma-exposed tungsten.",

keywords = "Blistering, Irradiation hardening, Nano-indentation, TEM, Theoretical model",

author = "W.Q. Chen and X.Z. Xiao and B. Pang and S.S. Si and Y.Z. Jia and B. Xu and T.W. Morgan and W. Liu and Y.L. Chiu",

year = "2019",

month = aug,

day = "15",

doi = "10.1016/j.jnucmat.2019.05.004",

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AU - Chen, W.Q.

AU - Xiao, X.Z.

AU - Pang, B.

AU - Si, S.S.

AU - Jia, Y.Z.

AU - Xu, B.

AU - Morgan, T.W.

AU - Liu, W.

AU - Chiu, Y.L.

PY - 2019/8/15

Y1 - 2019/8/15

N2 - In this work, the microstructure evolution in the near-surface of tungsten under hydrogen (H)plasma exposure conditions was observed by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), plasma focused ion beam (FIB)and transmission electron microscopy (TEM)techniques. Blisters, with existing dislocations distributed around obviously, were observed beneath the tungsten surface when the exposure temperature was 573 K, which was rarely reported in previous studies. However, H bombardment at 1273 K did not lead to the formation of blister-like microstructures. Correspondingly, irradiation hardening occurred after low temperature exposure, but not after high temperature exposure, according to the Berkovich nano-indentation experiments. In order to characterize the indentation size effect and irradiation hardening behavior of plasma-exposed materials, a mechanistic model was proposed for the hardness-depth relationship. A good agreement between the experimental indentation data and theoretical results revealed that plasma-induced dislocations play a dominant role in determining the increase of hardness for H plasma-exposed tungsten.

AB - In this work, the microstructure evolution in the near-surface of tungsten under hydrogen (H)plasma exposure conditions was observed by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), plasma focused ion beam (FIB)and transmission electron microscopy (TEM)techniques. Blisters, with existing dislocations distributed around obviously, were observed beneath the tungsten surface when the exposure temperature was 573 K, which was rarely reported in previous studies. However, H bombardment at 1273 K did not lead to the formation of blister-like microstructures. Correspondingly, irradiation hardening occurred after low temperature exposure, but not after high temperature exposure, according to the Berkovich nano-indentation experiments. In order to characterize the indentation size effect and irradiation hardening behavior of plasma-exposed materials, a mechanistic model was proposed for the hardness-depth relationship. A good agreement between the experimental indentation data and theoretical results revealed that plasma-induced dislocations play a dominant role in determining the increase of hardness for H plasma-exposed tungsten.

KW - Blistering

KW - Irradiation hardening

KW - Nano-indentation

KW - TEM

KW - Theoretical model

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JO - Journal of Nuclear Materials

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ER -

Irradiation hardening induced by blistering in tungsten due to low-energy high flux hydrogen plasma exposure

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