In Situ Micro-Pillar Compression to Examine Radiation-Induced Hardening Mechanisms of FeCrAl Alloys

The effects of 5 MeV Fe²⁺ ion irradiation at 300°C on the microstructure evolution and deformation behavior of a FeCrAl C26M alloy are presented. It has been found that dislocation loop density increases an order of magnitude from 1 dpa to 16 dpa irradiations, whereas, the dislocation loop size saturates with increasing damage. Micropillars, 600 nm in diameter and 1.3 µm in height, were fabricated and compressed inside grains with , and crystallographic orientations, respectively. {112} has been identified as the primary slip system in both unirradiated and irradiated alloys. The increase in yield stress after irradiation is observed with measurable variation along and vs. along . By applying the Orowan dispersed barrier model, the increase of yield stress is found mainly due to the slip resistance of radiation generated defect loops. Detailed transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies were performed to quantify the Burgers vector and the distribution of irradiation induced dislocations at elevated strains. It is revealed that localized shear instability is caused by avalanche slip events of ½ dislocations gliding out of tested pillars. Simultaneously, a large number of sessile/immobile dislocations formed in the vicinity of slip band, leading to the hardening at elevated strains.