Irradiation-induced BCC-phase formation and magnetism in a 316 austenitic stainless steel

Abstract

Specimens of austenitic stainless steel were irradiated with 6 MeV Xe ions to two doses of 7 and 15 dpa at room temperature and 300 °C respectively. Then partial irradiated specimens were subsequently thermally annealed at 550 °C. Irradiation-induced BCC-phase formation and magnetism were analyzed by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). It has been shown that irradiation damage level, irradiation temperature and annealing temperature have significant effect on BCC-phase formation. This BCC-phase changes the magnetic behavior of austenitic stainless steel. The stress relief and compositional changes in matrix are the driving forces for BCC-phase formation in austenitic stainless steel during ion irradiation. Keywords: Irradiation, Austenitic stainless steel, BCC-Phase formation