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The evolution of damage in tritium exposed copper

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2011

S.H. Goods
S.H. Goods
Affiliation:
Tritium Effects Research Division, Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, California 94550
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Abstract

Severe microstructural damage has been observed in polycrystalline OFHC copper specimens thermally exposed to high pressure tritium gas at temperatures ⋚200 °C, but not at 300 °C. No such damage occurs in single crystal specimens exposed under identical conditions, regardless of temperature. In the polycrystals, the damage takes the form of very flat, crack-like intergranular cavities. It is found that the cavitation evolves slowly with time. For short exposure times, cavities as small as 0.1 μm are observed. In specimens subjected to the longest aging times, the cavities grow and link until entire grain boundary facets fail. The driving force for the growth of these cavities is attributed to the internal gas pressure of helium-3 generated by the decay of tritium. The growth kinetics of the cavity microstructure are described by a coupled grain boundary, surface self-diffusion process. The tritium exposure profoundly affects the mechanical properties of the polycrystalline material, inducing a severe loss in ductility. In concert with the observed ductility loss is a change in fracture morphology from transgranular ductile rupture to intergranular fracture. Examination of the resulting grain boundary facets reveals a dimple structure. The spacing of these dimples can be correlated with the spacing of the exposure-induced grain boundary cavities.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 6 , Issue 2 , February 1991 , pp. 303 - 313
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1991

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