| We have used positron-annihilation-lifetime spectroscopies to examine microstructural evolution of pressure vessel steels and model alloys that have systematically varied amounts of copper, nickel, and phosphorus during neutron irradiation and post-irradiation annealing. The objective of this work was to characterize the neutron-irradiation induced microstructural features that cause the embrittlement of nuclear reactor pressure-vessel steel. We used positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy and Doppler-broadening spectroscopy to examine the model alloys and pressure-vessel steels before and after irradiation and after post-irradiation annealing. We followed the changes in the mechanical properties of the materials using Rockwell 15N hardness measurements. The results show that in both the model alloys and pressure-vessel steels neutron irradiation causes the formation of vacancy-type defect clusters and a fine distribution of copper- and nickel-enriched metallic precipitates. The vacancy clusters are small in size and were present in all samples, and disappear upon annealing at 450°C. The metallic precipitates are present only in the model alloy samples with either high Cu or a combination of medium Cu and high Ni, and they remain in the microstructure after annealing up to 550°C, starting to anneal possibly at 600°C. The neutron-irradiated pressure vessel steels behave similarly to the high Cu samples, indicating that neutron irradiation induced precipitation occurs in these alloys as well. This work provides independent evidence for the irradiation-induced metallic precipitates seen by other techniques, gives evidence for the exact nature of the matrix damage, and is significant to understanding the in-service degradation of pressure vessel materials. |
