A comparison was made of the kinetics of He desorption during the linear heating of samples which had been saturated under various conditions, and the effect of dislocations upon the retention of He was estimated. Samples of the austenitic stainless steel, Okh16N15M3B, were saturated by He irradiation in a cyclotron, in a magnetic mass-separation apparatus and within various reactors (using the so-called T-trick). The results showed that, when He-saturation was associated with the introduction of radiation defects, the kinetics of He evolution from samples of this type were similar to the evolution kinetics from samples which were irradiated in a reactor. The kinetics of He evolution from samples of Okh16N15M3B, both after preliminary deformation and during deformation, showed that the He atoms could migrate along dislocation pipes during heating. This resulted in a significant effect upon the release of He, and its redistribution within the volume of the material. The activation energy for He pipe diffusion in Okh16N15M3B was about 0.7eV. Mobile dislocations favoured the ejection of He onto the surface of the material, to grain boundaries and to interphase interfaces.

Effect of the Saturation Conditions and Structure on the Retention of Helium in Structural Materials. A.G.Zaluzhnyi, A.L.Suvorov: Technical Physics, 2001, 46[2], 186-91