The irradiated microstructure of ferritic-martensitic steel T91 and 9Cr-ODS

A ferritic steel T91 and an oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) martensitic steel 9Cr-ODS 1.38x10(-3) were irradiated with 5 MeV Ni ions at 500degreesC at a dose rate of. dpa/s to doses of 5, 50 and 150 dpa. Both alloys are iron-based with 9Cr and have been. designed for use in higher temperature energy systems. However, the radiation effects on these two alloys are not well characterized. For T91, the irradiated microstructure was dominated by tangled dislocation and precipitates, similar to the unirradiated condition except the presence of large dislocation loops of type a<100>. The microstructure of alloy 9Cr-ODS for both the unirradiated and irradiated cases was dominated by dense dislocations, precipitates and yttrium oxides particles and no dislocation loops were observed. The average size of yttrium oxides particles slightly decreased with dose from 11.8 nm for the unirradiated to 9.1 nm at 150 dpa. No voids were detected for both alloys up to a dose of 150 dpa.