Effect of additional minor elements on accumulation behavior of point defects under electron irradiation in austenitic stainless steels

Sekio, Yoshihiro  ; Yamashita, Shinichiro   ; Sakaguchi, Norihito*; Takahashi, Heishichiro

In order to perform the comparative evaluations for vacancy diffusivity and flux between a base alloy and modified alloys, the void denuded zones (VDZ) widths were measured from the TEM in-situ observation during electron irradiation in the SUS316L, SUS316L-V and SUS316L-Zr steels. As a result, VDZs with given widths were formed near GBs. Then, the VDZ widths were different depending on steels, and the width was narrower due to addition of minor alloying elements which strongly interact with vacancies. Furthermore, from the analyses of measured VDZ widths in the SUS316L and SUS316L-V steels, the changes of vacancy diffusivity, vacancy flux and excess vacancy concentration were estimated as 0.50, 0.71 and 1.41, respectively. The decreases of vacancy diffusivity and flux during electron irradiation would be due to the interaction of vacancies with added minor elements, while the enhancement of the excess vacancy concentration would be caused by trapping effects due to alloying elements.