Effects of hydrogen isotopes in the irradiation damage of CLAM steel

Abstract The isotope effect of hydrogen in irradiation damage plays an important role in the development of reduced activation Ferritic/Martensitic steels in nuclear reactors. The evolutions of microstructures and mechanical properties of China low active martensitic (CLAM) steel subjected to hydrogen and deuterium ions irradiation are studied comparatively. Under the same irradiation conditions, larger size and smaller density of dislocation loops are generated by deuterium ion than by hydrogen ion. Irradiation hardening occurs under the ion irradiation and the hardening induced by hydrogen ion is higher than by deuterium ion. Moreover, the coarsening of M23C6 precipitates is observed, which can be explained by the solute drag mechanisms. It turns out that the coarsening induced by deuterium ion irradiation is more distinct than by hydrogen ion irradiation. No distinct variations for the compositions of M23C6 precipitates are found by a large number of statistical data after hydrogen isotopes irradiation.