Dependence of Radiation Damage in Stainless Steel on Irradiation Temperature and Dose

The dependence of radiation damage in the modified 316L stainless steel on irradiation temperature from room temperature to 802 °C and on irradiation dose up to 100 dpa has been investigated by the heavy ion irradiation simulation and positron annihilation lifetime techniques. The largest vacancy cluster is detected at 580 °C that contains 14 vacancies and has an average diameter of 0.7 nm. The size of the vacancy clusters increases with the increasing of irradiation dose, and the vacancy cluster contains 8 vacancies and reaches 0.55 nm in diameter for a 100 dpa irradiation at room temperature. There is a tendency that the saturation of the vacancy cluster size starts at 75 dpa. The experimental results also reveal that the radiation damage is more sensitive to irradiation temperature than irradiation dose.