Effects of temperature change on vanadium alloys irradiated in HFIR

To understand the effects of temperature change on pure vanadium and four vanadium model alloys (V–5Cr, V–5Ti, V–4Cr–4Ti, V–4Cr–4Ti–0.1Si), neutron irradiation was performed in high flux isotope reactor. The specimens were irradiated for a total of 8 irradiation cycles, which resulted in 4 dpa. Each irradiation cycle consisted 0.05 dpa at 498 K, followed by 0.45 dpa at 613 K. After the irradiation the TEM samples were electro-polished and examined by electron microscopy. The microstructures of the samples were compared with those of the same alloys, which were continuously irradiated at 613 K.