Irradiation effect on the tensile properties of magnox AL80

A study has been made on the effect of neutron irradiation on the tensile properties at room temperature of Magnox AL80, Mg-Al alloy and unalloyed magnesium as a function of grain size. Heat treated wire specimens were encapsulated and then irradiated in the JRR-2 reactor up to exposures of 1.2×10¹⁹nvt (epi-Cd energy). As a result the parameters σ₀ and k in the Petch relationship increased in magnitude after irradiations exceeding 1×10¹⁷nvt. Among the materials tested Magnox AL80 was found to be the most sensitive to neutron irradiation and unalloyed magnesium the least effected. The effect of neutron irradiation on the strain rate (ε) dependence of the tensile stress (σ) was also investigated. The effect of neutron irradiation was to increase A and to decrease B in the equation σ=A+B log ε, when σ represented the yield stresses. (author)