Characterization of ion-induced microstructural changes in oxygen irradiated Ti–6Al–4V

Abstract

The change in microstructure and mechanical properties ofTi–6Al–4V alloy due to 160 MeV O⁶⁺ ion irradiation has been reported here. Detailed X-ray diffraction line profile analyses have been used to evaluate the microstructural parameters and characterize the nature of defects and their arrangements. The results indicate saturation of size of the coherent region, the dislocation density and its arrangement with dose, which points to an optimized final microstructure of irradiated material. This was also supported by the Vicker’s microhardness measurements. Electron back scattered diffraction study was used to assess the changes in microstructure in terms of the evolution of misorientation boundaries within the grains due to irradiation-induced defects. All the results support the radiation resistance nature of Ti–6Al–4V alloy. Finally, comparison has been made with earlier proton irradiation results, and the difference has been related to the nature of the displacement cascade produced by light and heavy ions.

KEYWORDS:

• X-ray diffraction line profile analysis (XRDLPA)
• electron back scattered diffraction (EBSD)
• microhardness
• microstructure

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge VECC cyclotron operators for smooth running of the accelerator during the irradiation experiment.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Santu Dey

Santu Dey is scientific officer at Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre, Kolkata since September 2010. He received is PhD from the Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai in 2021. His research interest is in the field of radiation damage of metals and alloys using ion beams and the characterization using different experimental tools. He has co-authored 10 papers in international journals till now.

Argha Dutta

Argha Dutta is scientific officer at the Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre, Kolkata and is currently pursuing PhD under Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai. His research interest is Radiation damage study using ion beams & subsequent characterization of micro structure using X-ray diffraction. He has published his work in 9 international journal papers till now.

N. Gayathri

N. Gayathri is scientific officer at the Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre, Kolkata and Associate Professor at Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai. Her current research interest is studying radiation damage of structural materials using ion beams and characterizing the microstructure using X-ray diffraction and EBSD techniques. She holds 73 international publications and 1 book chapter till date.

P. Mukherjee

P. Mukherjee is senior scientific officer at the Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre, Kolkata and Professor at Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai. Her main research interest during the long scientific career is Radiation Damage using ion beams on metals and alloys and X-ray Diffraction techniques for characterisation of defects and Microstructural analysis. She has 83 international journal publications and 2 book chapters.

Tapatee Kundu Roy

Tapatee Kundu Roy is senior scientific officer at Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre based in Kolkata and Associate professor of Homi Bhabha National Institute located in Mumbai, INDIA. During her long scientific career, she has worked in a variety of fields related to materials research. She has contributed significantly in studying the hardness and fracture toughness of ceramic materials. Currently, she is focusing on the development of a new generation ZnO based varistors with very high nonlinearity and breakdown potential.