Effect of Neutron Irradiation on the Precipitation-Hardening Reaction in Alloys Containing Beryllium

Abstract

Neutron irradiation effects in the precipitation hardening alloy, nickel‐beryllium, were measured using the ferromagnetic Curie temperature as an index of the amount of precipitate formed. Effects found previously in a similar precipitation hardening alloy, copper‐beryllium, were not found upon irradiation at approximately room temperature. However, an irradiation for an integrated fast flux of 4×10¹⁷ n/cm² at a temperature of 300°C showed that 1.3 atomic percent more beryllium in the form of the compound Ni–Be precipitated from a supersaturated solid solution than from a similar specimen held at 300°C but not irradiated.