Environmental Effects on Titanium Oxide Formation in V-4Cr-4Ti Alloys

The effects of oxygen pick-up from environment in the vacuum chamber during ion and neutron irradiation on V-4Cr-4Ti alloys were studied. The density and size of titanium oxides in the alloys were drastically increased by the oxygen pick-up, especially in the case of higher irradiation dose and irradiation temperature. Joining with Zr foil as a diffusion barrier is effective to reduce the oxygen pick-up.