Heavy ions induced damages in Ti3SiC2: effect of irradiation temperature

Jean-Christophe Nappé (1, 2, 3) , Philippe Grosseau (1, 2, 3) , Bernard Guilhot (1, 2, 3, 4) , F. Audubert (5) , Michel Beauvy (5) , Mourad Benabdesselam (6)

1 SPIN-ENSMSE - Centre Sciences des Processus Industriels et Naturels
2 P2MC-ENSMSE - Département Poudres et Matériaux Multi-Composants
3 LPMG-EMSE - Laboratoire des Procédés en Milieux Granulaires
4 CIS-ENSMSE - Centre Ingénierie et Santé
5 LTEC - Laboratoire des Technologies d'Elaboration des Combustibles
6 LPMC - Laboratoire de physique de la matière condensée

Thanks to their refractoriness, carbides are sensed as fuel coating for the IVth generation of reactors. Among those studied, the Ti3SiC2 ternary compound can be distinguished for its noteworthy mechanical properties: the nanolamellar structure imparts to this material some softness as well as better toughness than other classical carbides such as SiC or TiC. However, under irradiation, its behaviour is still unknown. In order to understand this behaviour, specimens were irradiated with heavy ions of different energies, then characterised. The choice of energies used allowed separation of the effects of nuclear interactions from those of electronic ones. Thus, AFM, SEM and XRD techniques allowed to note an important spoiling due to nuclear collision whereas electronic interactions would induce the formation of hills and the expansion of the unit cell. Irradiations at higher temperatures allowed to study the effect of temperature on these results.

Mots clés: Silicon-carbide; amorphization; ceramics

Domaines: Génie des procédés

Jean-Christophe Nappé, Philippe Grosseau, Bernard Guilhot, F. Audubert, Michel Beauvy, et al.. Heavy ions induced damages in Ti3SiC2: effect of irradiation temperature. 33rd International Conference on Advanced Ceramics and Composites, Jan 2009, Daytona Beach, Floride, United States. pp.199-204. ⟨hal-00551914⟩