Effect of ion irradiation on aluminium hydroxide in an Al-Mg-Si alloy

Abstract : In the core of a nuclear reactor, irradiation defects created by the fast neutron flux can have a detrimental effect on the corrosion of aluminium alloys. In order to better understand the effect of irradiation on aluminium corrosion, a hydroxide obtained by corrosion of an Al-Mg-Si alloy is irradiated with Al ions. The damage created is 2.5 dpa (displacement per atom) on average in the aluminium hydroxide (Stopping and Range of Ions in Matter (SRIM) calculation). The ion irradiation seems to cause an amorphization of the hydroxide. Voids and nano-crystallites can also be observed.After re-corrosion of the irradiated hydroxide, an increase of the thickness of the oxide layer can be observed compared to the non-irradiated oxide.