A study of the suppression of the high-temperature helium embrittlement in an oxide-particle dispersion strengthened alloy

In this paper,an investigation on the micro-structure of an Fe-base oxide-dispersion-strengthened(ODS) alloy irradiated with high-energy 20Ne ions to different doses at a temperature around 0.5Tm(Tm is the melting point of the alloy) is presented.Investigation with the transmission electron microscopy found that the accelerated growth of voids at grain-boundaries,which is usually a concern in conven-tional Fe-base alloys under conditions of inert-gas implantation,was not observed in the ODS alloy irradiated even to the highest dose(12000 at.ppm Ne).The reason is ascribed to the enhanced recom-bination of point defects and strong trapping of Ne atoms at the interfaces of the nano-scale oxide par-ticles in grains.The study showed that ODS alloys have good resistance to the high-temperature in-ter-granular embrittlement due to inert-gas accumulation,exhibiting prominence of application in harsh situations of considerable helium production at elevated temperatures like in a fusion reactor.