Effect of helium on the swelling of GlidCop Al25 IG alloy

This report presents data on the effect of neutron irradiation up to 0.5 dpa in the mixed spectrum SM-2 reactor at Tirr≈160 and ≈295 °C and on the TEM microstructure of GlidCop Al25 IG oxide dispersion strengthened copper after different heat treatments (CR+annealed, HIP). It is shown for the first time that a high helium generation rate in the alloy, due to boron introduced into the alloy in the capacity of deoxidizer, results in high-rate swelling of GlidCop Al25 IG of about 1%/dpa at 300 °C. It is shown that the average size of Al2O3 particles reduces under irradiation. The conclusion is made that the application of elements with high cross-sections of helium generation as deoxidizers can result in a substantial decrease of the resistance to swelling of copper alloys for fusion applications.