Effect of Pulsed Helium Ion Fluxes and Helium Plasma on the Inconel 718 Alloy

Russian Metallurgy (Metally). 2018. No. 9. P. 826–834.

Borovitskaya I. V., Gribkov V. A., Grigorovich K. V., Demin A. S., Maslyaev S. A., Morozov E. V., Pimenov V. N., Sprygin G. S., Zepelev A. B., Gusakov M. S., Logachev I. A., Bondarenko G.G., Gaidar A. I.

The results of the irradiation of the Inconel 718 alloy with pulsed helium ion and helium plasma
fluxes at a power density q = 107 W/cm2 and a pulse duration τ ≈ 100 ns in the Vikhr Plasma Focus setup are
presented. The surface layer is not melted under the irradiation conditions. However, a slight increase in
q causes melting of local regions in the surface and the formation of a wavy relief. Beam–plasma irradiation
results in structural and phase changes in the irradiated surface layer, namely, the precipitation of microinclusions
(complex niobium carbides), a redistribution of alloy elements, a slight decrease in the microhardness,
and, accordingly, slight softening. These changes in the microstructure and the properties are determined
by the melting of the irradiated surface in local regions, partial sputtering of solid-phase regions, and
recrystallization in the near-surface layer during pulsed heating for each beam–plasma action.

Keywords: Plasma Focus setup, установка "Плазменный фокус", ионы гелия, сплав Инконель, helium ions, helium plasma fluxes, Inconel alloy, structural and phase changes, потоки гелиевой плазмы, структурные и фазовые изменения