Effect of helium on the swelling of GlidCop Al25 IG alloy

Abstract 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.