A study of the suppression of the high-temperature helium embrittlement in an oxide-particle dispersion strengthened alloy

In this paper, an investigation on the micro-structure of an Fe-base oxide-dispersion-strengthened （ODS） alloy irradiated with high-energy ^20Ne ions to different doses at a temperature around 0.5Tin （Tin is the melting point of the alloy） is presented. Investigation with the transmission electron microscopy found that the accelerated growth of voids at grain-boundaries, which is usually a concern in conven- tional Fe-base alloys under conditions of inert-gas implantation, was not observed in the ODS alloy irradiated even to the highest dose （12000 at.ppm Ne）. The reason is ascribed to the enhanced recombination of point defects and strong trapping of Ne atoms at the interfaces of the nano-scale oxide particles in grains. The study showed that ODS alloys have good resistance to the high-temperature inter-granular embrittlement due to inert-gas accumulation, exhibiting prominence of application in harsh situations of considerable helium production at elevated temperatures like in a fusion reactor.