Microstructural changes induced by low energy heavy ion irradiation in titanium silicon carbide

Jean-Christophe Nappé (1, 2, 3) , Claire Maurice (4, 5) , Philippe Grosseau (1, 2, 3) , F. Audubert (6) , L. Thomé (7) , Bernard Guilhot (3, 8, 9) , Michel Beauvy (6) , Mourad Benabdesselam (10)

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 MPM-ENSMSE - Département Microstructures et Propriétés Mécaniques
5 LCG-ENSMSE - UMR 5146 - Laboratoire Claude Goux
6 LTEC - Laboratoire des Technologies d'Elaboration des Combustibles
7 CSNSM - Centre de Spectrométrie Nucléaire et de Spectrométrie de Masse
8 CIS-ENSMSE - Centre Ingénierie et Santé
9 DB2M-ENSMSE - Département Biomécanique et Biomatériaux
10 LPMC - Laboratoire de physique de la matière condensée

Low energy ion irradiation was used to investigate the microstructural modifications induced in Ti3SiC2 by nuclear collisions. Characterization of the microstructure of the pristine sample by electron back-scatter diffraction (EBSD) shows a strong texturing of TiSi2, which is a common secondary phase present in Ti3SiC2. A methodology based on atomic force microscopy (AFM) was developed to measure the volume swelling induced by ion irradiation, and it was validated on irradiated silicon carbide. The swelling of Ti3SiC2 was estimated to 2.2 ± 0.8% for an irradiation dose of 4.3 dpa at room temperature. Results obtained by both EBSD and AFM analyses showed that nuclear collisions induce an anisotropic swelling in Ti3SiC2.

Mots clés: Ti3SiC2; Nuclear interaction; Electron back-scatter diffraction; Atomic force microscopy; Anisotropic swelling

Domaines: Génie des procédés

Jean-Christophe Nappé, Claire Maurice, Philippe Grosseau, F. Audubert, L. Thomé, et al.. Microstructural changes induced by low energy heavy ion irradiation in titanium silicon carbide. Journal of the European Ceramic Society, 2011, 31 (8), pp.1503-1511. ⟨10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2011.01.002⟩. ⟨hal-00587048⟩