Effect of Fast Neutron Irradiation on Nanocrystalline Al

Nanocrystalline Al bulks with an average grain size of about 120 nm prepared by pressing Al nanopowders in vacuum were irradiated by fast neutron (E>1 MeV) with the fluence of 1.9×10¹²-7.2×10¹⁴ cm^-2. The effect of fast neutron irradiation on microstructure and microhardness of nanocrystalline Al was analyzed through XRD, SEM-EDS and microhardness test. The experiment results show that the average grain size increases and the microhardness becomes larger after fast neutron irradiation for nanocrystalline Al. The average grain size and microhardness of nanocrystalline Al after fast neutron irradiation increase 2.09%-9.09% and 3.54%-4.37%, respectively. The increasing rate of the average grain size increases with the fast neutron fluence.