Temperature and dose dependences of radiation damage in modified stainless steel

Radiation damage in a modified 316L stainless steel has been investigated as functions of the irradiation temperature from room temperature to 802 °C at 21 dpa and 33 dpa and the irradiation dose up to 100 dpa at room temperature by the heavy ion irradiation simulation and positron annihilation lifetime techniques. The maximum life time was observed at 580 °C for 21 dpa and 33 dpa irradiations, where the vacancy clusters contain 14 and 19 vacancies and have average diameters of 0.68 nm and 0.82 nm, respectively. For irradiations at room temperature up to 100 dpa the size of the vacancy clusters increases with increasing irradiation dose, and the vacancy clusters contain eight vacancies and reach 0.55 nm in diameter at 100 dpa. The experimental results reveal that the radiation damage in this modified 316L stainless steel is more sensitive to the irradiation temperature than the irradiation dose.