Cavity Swelling in Three Ferritic-Martensitic Steels Irradiated by 196 MeV Kr Ions

We report on cavity swelling at peak damage regions of three ferritic-martensitic (FM) steels (NHS, RAFM and T91) irradiated by 196 MeV Kr ions at different temperatures (450/550°C). Cavity configurations of the irradiated specimens are investigated by transmission electron microscopy with cross-section technique. For home-made reduced activation ferritic-martensitic (RAFM) and T91 steels irradiated at 450°C, both large size and bimodal size distribution of the cavity are found in their peak damage regions, whereas novel high silicon (NHS) steel exhibits good swelling resistance at different irradiation temperatures. Temperature relativity of the cavity swelling in NHS, RAFM and T91 steels is discussed briefly.