Probing He bubbles in naturally aged and annealed d-Pu alloys using ultra-small-angle x-ray scattering

The self-irradiation of Pu alloys generates He that is trapped within the metal matrix in the form of He bubbles. The distribution of these He bubbles in δ-phase Pu-Ga alloys exhibits a peak near a radius of 0.7 nm, and this size is remarkably stable as function of time. When annealed, the He bubble...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of nuclear materials 2018-01, Vol.498, p.505
Main Authors: Jeffries, JR, Hammons, JA, Willey, TM, Wall, MA, Ruddle, D, Ilavsky, J, Allen, PG, van Buuren, T
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alloy development
Alloys
Annealing
Bubbles
Coarsening
Experimental methods
Helium
Irradiation
Nickel base alloys
Scattering
Small angle X ray scattering
Studies
X-ray scattering
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Summary:The self-irradiation of Pu alloys generates He that is trapped within the metal matrix in the form of He bubbles. The distribution of these He bubbles in δ-phase Pu-Ga alloys exhibits a peak near a radius of 0.7 nm, and this size is remarkably stable as function of time. When annealed, the He bubbles in δ-Pu alloys grow, coarsening the distribution. However, the magnitude of this coarsening is uncertain, as different experimental methods reveal bubbles that differ by at least one order of magnitude. Small-angle x-ray scattering results, which can probe a wide range of bubble sizes, imply only a mild coarsening of the He bubble distribution for an annealing treatment of 425 °C for 24 h, and analysis of the He bubble content suggests that He is actually lost from the bubbles with annealing.
ISSN:0022-3115
1873-4820