magnetic measurements under neutron radiation in Fe metal and low carbon steel

Takahashi, Seiki*; Kikuchi, Hiroaki*; Ara, Katsuyuki*; Ebine, Noriya; Kamada, Yasuhiro*; Kobayashi, Satoru*; Suzuki, Masahide

Journal of Applied Physics, 100(2), p.023902_1 - 023902_6, 2006/07

https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2214214

Magnetic minor hysteresis loops of low carbon steel and Fe metal have been measured during neutron radiation at 563 K in a nuclear reactor. For investigation of nucleation mechanism of copper precipitates and dislocation loops, special attention was paid to minor-loop coefficients, which are deduced from simple relations between minor-loop parameters and are very sensitive to lattice defects. We found that with increasing neutron fluence, the minor-loop coefficients of low carbon steel sharply increase and show a maximum at the fluence of 110 cm, followed by a slow decrease. The appearance of the maximum suggests the presence of two mechanisms of internal stress; while copper precipitates and dislocation loops in the matrix make the internal stress increase, those grown in the vicinity of dislocations compensate the internal stress of dislocations. On the other hand, the minor-loop coefficients show a monotonic increase with neutron fluence in Fe metal.