Voids in Irradiated Aluminium Alloys

Abstract

Voids are cavities in which there is insufficient gas present for the gas pressure to balance the surface tension. Since 1967 numerous observations have been made on the number of voids as a function of irradiation temperature, displacement rate, stress and displacement dose¹. We report here some preliminary results on the effect of the presence of alloying elements in substitutional solid solution on the nucleation of voids in aluminium and binary alloys. Zone refined aluminium (Metals Research) with the major impurity, silicon, present in the p.p.m. range was used. Dilute alloys were cast using either high purity silicon or high purity indium. Irradiations were carried out in the SAFARI-1 reactor at pile temperature to a dose of 2.5 × 10²⁰ n cm⁻² (E > 0.1 MeV).