Irradiation Softening in Pure Iron Single Crystals

The characteristics of irradiation softening in Fe were studied. Results show that irradiation softening effect can be explained by the intrinsic mechanism, namely, the interaction of screw dislocations with randomly dispersed interstitials. At least some of the solid solution softening phenomena observed in alloys can be explained by the same mechanism. However, the alloying may be accompanied by an additional effect such as solute segregation to dislocations which may also strongly affect the yield stress. This effect may mask the softening effect partially or totally. Changes in the dislocation structure of deformed specimens caused by alloying, which are often reported in electron microscopic investigations, support this contention. The alloying, therefore, may not be as good as the low temperature irradiation in studying the effect of random solutes on dislocation motion and yield stress. (auth