Kinetics of radiation damage and martensitic transformations in TiNi alloys irradiated with neutrons

The variation of the temperatures of martensitic transformations and the rate of radiation damage in TiNi alloys were studied upon irradiation with reactor neutrons. The irradiation was performed at temperatures of 120 and 335 K. In the process of irradiation, electrical resistance of the alloys was measured continuously and thermal cycling through the temperature range of martensitic transformations was carried out. The transformation temperatures were shown to decrease at different rates with increasing irradiation fluence. The electrical resistance increases linearly with increasing neutron fluence to 6.7×1018 cm−2 irrespective of the irradiation temperature. Deviation from a linear dependence is only observed when the irradiation leads to a change in the phase state of the alloy. The rate of the resistance increase only slightly depends on the irradiation temperature. In martensite, it is greater by a factor of 2–4 than that in austenite. Mechanisms of irradiation-induced modification of the structure of TiNi alloys that explain the experimental data obtained are discussed.