Al 6061-T6 microstructure and mechanical properties modification under ion beam irradiation at room temperature: Application for Nuclear Research Reactor

Mahmoud Izerrouken

doi:10.57056/ajet.v8i2.133

Authors

Mahmoud Izerrouken Nuclear Research Center of Draria, Bp. 43 Sebbala, Draria, Algiers, Algeria

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.57056/ajet.v8i2.133

Keywords:

Aluminium alloys, Mechanical properties, Radiation damage, Vacancy clusters, Interstitial clusters, Radiation hardening

Abstract

Al6061 microstructural and mechanical properties modification under ion beam irradiation was investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), micro- and nano-indentation techniques. The samples were irradiated with different ions species at different energies and doses. The irradiations were performed at 5UDH-2 Pelletron Tandem accelerator Islamabad, Pakistan and GANIL accelerator, Caen, France. XRD patterns show a drastic effect of ion beam irradiation on the peaks intensity. All peaks disappear after irradiation except the peak (200) and new phase/precipitates emerged at high doses. It is found that the grain size, micro-strain and peaks shift increase/or decrease depending on the ion species and dose. The micro-hardness increases a little bit after irradiation indicating Al6061 hardening by ion beam irradiation. The result of this study demonstrated that the structure and microstructure of Al6061 are significantly changed by heavy ion irradiation. This will affect certainly the Al6061 mechanical properties and, therefore, reduces its lifetime under reactor neutron operation conditions.

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