The effect of irradiation with inert gas and hydrogen ions on nanohardness of SS316 stainless steel
Keywords:
ion irradiation, nanoindantation, hardness, microstructure, stainless steelAbstract
The influence of gas ions irradiation (hydrogen, helium, argon) on nanohardness and microstructure changes in SS316 austenitic stainless steel has been studied. Samples were irradiated with 15 keV/D, 30 keV/He and 1400 keV/Ar ions at different temperatures. It has been found that irradiation at room temperature leads to the formation of dislocation structure in the steel, regardless of ion species. The formation of the bubble structure was observed after irradiation of SS316 steel with argon ions at 873 K. An increase of nanohardness of about two times was observed for ion irradiated steel. It was established that the main factor of hardening is the formation of radiation induced dislocation structure.




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