Saturation of irradiation damage in (Ti,Zr)3(Si,Al)C2 compounds

The good radiation resistance of Ti3(Si1−xAlx)C2 (x = 0.05, 0.07, 0.1) has been recently demonstrated through 95 MeV Xe irradiations up to 2 × 1019 m−2 which did not induce amorphisation. In this work, the irradiation damage level of Ti3(Si0.95Al0.05)C2 was raised up to 4.5 × 1019 m−2: saturation of hardness above 1019 cm−2 suggests saturation of microstructure disorder. Same conclusions could be deduced from irradiation of (Ti0.95Zr0.05)(Si0.9Al0.1)C2.