Ion-induced irradiation hardening of the weld heat-affected zone in low alloy steel

Ha, Yoosung  ; Takamizawa, Hisashi ; Katsuyama, Jinya  ; Hanawa, Satoshi ; Nishiyama, Yutaka 

The microstructural distribution in the heat-affected zone (HAZ) under the stainless overlay cladding of low alloy steel was investigated by metallurgical observation and finite element analysis (FEA). The distribution of the coarse-grain (CG) HAZ and the fine-grain (FG) HAZ in low alloy steel by metallurgical observation agreed well with the FEA results. Base metal contained mixed bainite with ferrite, whereas the CGHAZ and the FGHAZ contained mixed lower bainite with martensite and mixed upper bainite with ferrite, respectively. Ferrite fraction in FGHAZ was higher than those other areas. After ion irradiation at a fluence of 0.5 dpa, irradiation hardening and the formation of solute clusters were observed at the base metal, FGHAZ, and the CGHAZ. Atom probe tomography analysis revealed that irradiation hardening increased with increasing volume fraction of clusters, although irradiation hardening at the FGHAZ was greater than that at the CGHAZ, which contained more clusters than the FGHAZ. This difference in irradiation hardening may be due to the differences in the amount of ferrite, carbide precipitates and so on in the different microstructures.