Study of the irradiation hardening of a Fe9Cr ferritic model alloy by nanoindentations

This paper presents a series of Berkovich indentation results obtained on unirradiated and 7.2 MeV proton irradiated specimens of a Fe9Cr model alloy with an equiaxed ferritic microstructure. Using a energy degrader wheel made of 24 aluminum foils of different thickness, a flat damage profile of about 50 mu m resulted from the irradiation, allowing to perform indentations within a volume material that is homogeneously irradiated. The indentation size effect on measured hardness was analyzed with a model based on the disloction-slip distance theory built on the concept of combined spatial frequency of all obstacles to dislocation motion. The effects on hardness of the tip -specimen contact size (or penetration depth), dislocation density and mean distance between irradiation defects were quantified and discussed. The irradiation hardening was characterized by the increase of hardness determined at large penetration depths.