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

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.